I building a maple board-bow 60"ntn shooting for 45-50lbs@26"started to tiller now ready to put some reflex in it.What should i use steam or heat?
I put reflex into a maple board bow I am building with heat. (Heat gun)
Heated till the wood was a medium brown, working from the fade area to the tips. Left it clamped to my "caul" till the wood was completely cool to the touch, and have left it to re-hydrate (two weeks, so far)
I think that steam would do a good job also, but it is a little hard to steam a 24-30" section of bow limb, without building some sort of steam "chamber"
Good luck with your build.
Dry heat. Don't put much into it. 60" is a bit shorter than I'd make an unbacked maple bow to those specs. You don't want to overstress the wood too much further than it already will be.