while i was in my shop this morning working opn some arrows and planning out the dimensions of my little sisters bow in my head, a thought occured to me and i figure ill get some insight on the subject from the great intellect here on tradgang. I thought that one could perhaps induce reflex into a board stave over time, with moisture and some weight or a form and tension. Thinking about it more i thought of how saw mills stack lumber, and how if wood gets rained on then any leverage put against it by say, a board underneath and at a right angle. the board will eventually take a bend downward at the ends. I know that with heat and steam reflex can be induced, but thats over a short time and very intensive, and in some cases it can be the demise of a stave if not done properly. anyone know if the long session of moisture and leverage will work or not?
i ask this because while i was browsing through lumber stacks for a stave for my sister i found another stave as well that shows promise, with some really dense thick rings. the stave is lighter in color than the one im using for my sisters but its actually heavier. from what i know of red oak the denser the wood usually the better.
just be carefull that you dontend up with twists in the wood
You might induce some reflex but I doubt it would last. Also, adding moisture to dry wood can cause checking.
Can't hurt to try. Take pics and report back.
i think in theory it would be like reflexing, or as we say with plain boards warping. if it were easier for me to steam bend id just do that, but they dont take kindly round these parts to me using their stove for anything other than cooking,lol. anyway i thought it might work for staves i wasnt going to be working with for awhile. i havent yet worked out how id introduce moisture but ive thought about just using a damp cloth over it so it doesnt get completely saturated and i can easily vary how much moisture its getting. if nothing else i could always just put it in one of the racks on the ceiling of the garage, its not warm in there and its a tad humid.
i know personally from building with warped wood that unuless it gets wet again then warped boards stay that way.lol