yeah, i got the idea.

Thanks Pat, I sent that from my cell phone and not a lot of screen to view for my old eyes and kinda took a short cut:)

Us old folks gotta watch each others backs! d;^)

it looks as if steaming is the way to go.
thanks for the info everyone, i'll try to post some pics of the tips after bending.

steamed the tip for 45-50 minutes, still very stiff  :confused:    :confused: . what did I do wrong?  

I suspect your wood is too thick.

My first shooter was a working recurve osage bow. After I got it shooting I realized I was a bit over my head as far as making a really good bow of that design.

I backed of the high tech stuff and started making straight limb bows to hone my bow making skills and learn the craft.

I recommend this route to all beginning bowyers, make a bunch of straight limb bows, perfect your tillering skills and craftsmanship, then branch out to more challenging designs.

Ya have pictures? Ya have your limb tips narrowed down to like 1/2 wide and 3/8th thick?

I think Eric is onto it. Start messing with recurves once you can crank out a straight limbed bow quickly, efficiently, cleanly, without fuss, and with a high percentage of success.

Also, even when you steam, I find the window of time to bend the tips is not more than a couple minutes, I like to do it IMMEDIATELY. I have everything ready when it comes out of the pot. Wood has to be thin enough to bend a little already, steaming just makes it so once you bend it and let it dry, it holds the shape. It wont ever turn the wood into someting particularly soft or weak.

What I did when I wanted to learn to steam/dry heat bend is to take a cheap pieces of straight grained board (not a bow) maybe 8-12" long, and thin it down to roughly the thickness of a limb, and start boiling/steaming/heating them and bending tehm on a form to get the hang of it. That'll give you a feel for what it takes and what to expect without snapping limbs off.

Roy: the pics are up higher in the post.

Eric yes it was too thick, and I'll probably stick with longbows for now.

Ben: got the idea, thanks.

you guys will find that that I posted a topic called first bow to work, that is a longbow that I made a little while ago, and then piked today.

oops! forgot Roy, they are in a different topic so here they are.