Going to upgrade my wood drying bow. Maximum performance from an all wood archery bow requires that I dry my bows to about 6% before a competition. I live on the coast in Ca and my wood will reach an equallibrium of about 9% or 10% just storing the bows in the house.
I can easily raise the temp of my box to 140 degrees with a couple of light bulbs but this still takes some time to lower the moisture content to where I need it and is not all that efficient.
My question is; If I were to take an old refrigerator unit and install it inside the box, seal the box off from the outside and just circulate the same air over the evaparator and the condenser letting the hot moist air shed its moisture on the evaporator. Would this be more efficient. I am not sure the moisture will gather on the evaporator once the humidity in the box drops below a certain level?
make another box and dry some wood to below 6% of moisture. throw these in your bow box when you are drying your bows. monitor the temperature and humidity in the box.
I’d speculate that the old refrigerator scheme could work - if a surface is cold enough, it will tend to condense whatever moisture is present.
But this sounds decidedly complicated. Much simpler would be to use calcium chloride: bake it in an oven to remove nearly all moisture, then put it in a sealed box with the bow. Some air circulation (small fan) would keep things uniform.
Rotating dessicant cartrideges is another option I have been considering for finished bows. I would like my hot box to also be able to handle green staves and dry them quickly.