Osage sb design help

[lockon]

Ive got a stave that I want to make into a static recurve. It's about as clean as Osage gets. It's 70" long but has a dogleg about 13" up from the base. Not real bad on the twist but about 2-2.5" on the kick. Can I straighten it AND recurve it? Or should I cut the 13" off and make a 57" recurve?

[Pat B]

IMO, 70" is too long for a recurve. You don't get the benefits of the recurve at that length.
 Osage straightens very easily with dry heat. I usually use a bit of cooking oil to prevent scorching and work the heat only on the belly and sides, not the back.
 For a 28" draw a 62" to 64" (or shorter) recurve is a good length.

[lockon]

Thanks pat! You have always given me good help. I think I may not have worded my concern very well though.
My concern is that kick n twist at the 57" mark. My intention was to make a 62" recurve but I wasn't sure about how well that dogleg was going to work on the bending.

Should I rough it out at 70", straighten it, then cut it at 62", and the recurve it?

Or should I just make a 57" longbow?

Or, don't worry about it, cut it at 62" and finish it out as planned?

[Pat B]

Without seeing the stave it is hard to say. Will you post pics?

[lockon]

Does this help?

[Pat B]

You can easily straighten that dogleg with heat. Get your bow to almost low brace and do a heat straightening on it. 62" will be a good length for 28" draw.

[scrub-buster]

That won't be to hard to straighten.  Here is one I straightened out a couple of weeks ago with a heat gun.  It had a sharp deflex bend at the fade.

 

 

It has a little reflex to it now.

 

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Oh yeah, That's a good looking stave right there. It should straighten up real nice. Look forward to seeing your recurve. I ain't had much luck building one but I'll get it sooner or later.

[lockon]

Thanks for the feedback. Just needed a little confidence in what I was doing was right. I'll post pics as I go along.