My first osage stave! ... It is finished!!...

[Echatham]

managed to get the other limb heated and clamped this morning.  didn't really have enough time so i had to be a few minutes late for work lol!  had to do it though, cause i won't be able to get much done today or tomorrow. the first limb held it's shape very nicely. very little springback.  Why did i always think that heat straightening a bow stave was going to be some really difficult and daunting task? easy day!  Pictures this afternoon I promise!

[Zradix]

cool.

I'm kinda fearing any heat bending myself.
Glad to hear it's no biggie.

[Echatham]

i did lightly brown the belly in a couple spots... mostly just to see how much it took to do it.  I didn't use any oil and i didn't get any toasting on the back. did have some pine sap run out of my form in a few spots though. no big deal.  Its pretty humid out right now, and the bow's in the basement so it should rehydrate pretty quickly. I will give it till the weekend at least.  Zradix there really is nothing to it. i just heat up a little section with a heat gun for about 5 minutes or so and then clamp it down and move on.  bends really easy... not like noodle easy.... more like green sapling easy... i have been letting it cool in the form for a whole day or night... don't know if thats neccesary... thats just how its worked out.

[Zradix]

INTERESTING.
Thank you

[Echatham]

can anyone reccomend a tradgang sponser for horn nock material?

[Echatham]

nevermind... Horn is on order.

[Steve Kendrot]

Really you only need to cool it to room temp and its good to go. In his book, Stim Wilcox even mentioned using an ice bag to speed up the cooling process. I did some straightening by hand by just holding the bow in the vise and pushing/twisting and holding it till it cooled enough.

[Echatham]

yeah i figured that was the case.... i just set it and go to bed, or set it and go to work.

[John Scifres]

I have had bows blow when I didn't let them rest after heating.  I have no scientific proof but I always let them rest a week or so if I have really done a lot of bending.  If I am just flipping the tips or making slight adjustments, I don't feel it is necessary but if I do a lot of correction, I think it helps to let them rehydrate a while.  I have even wetted the stave to help them along in really dry times.  I usually do several blanks at once and don't work or sell them for a long time.  I don't use oil except when doing really harsh recurving.

Toasting and correcting are different things.  Correcting is, well, correcting unwanted bends.  Toasting is "tempering" by really heating the belly wood to make it more plastic and then letting it cool in a reflexed state to better resist compression.  

Don't, I repeat, don't toast the back.  Use a form without sides so that heat doesn't bounce.  Better yet, use a form without sides that is only as wide as the stave to eliminate reflection of heat onto the back while toasting.

[Echatham]

I got ya John.  i definitely haven't gotten it hot enough for that.

[Echatham]

well here she is off the form. lookin pretty good i think.  think this amount of reflex is extreme for a first selfbow?

[Zradix]

ooooo..

It's on the tree!

[Echatham]

haha just for the photo op. gonna give it til the weekend to start tillering. might put the overlays on before i brace it.

[Zradix]

ahh..
Let it rehydrate and stuff...

lol

[John Scifres]

That's more than I would add.  It makes it tougher to tiller especially at first but you should be fine.  Take your time  

[CardboardDuck]

Originally posted by Echatham:
haha just for the photo op. gonna give it til the weekend to start tillering. might put the overlays on before i brace it.

I just cut grooves in the sides (not the back) for tillering and worry about the overlays when I know it's good to go. Check floor tiller first, then long string, then short string after the tips are moving a bit. I know you probably already know this, but I just sounded like your were going to brace it after letting it sit    

I have started tillering the next day after heating a bow on a form, but you will get 100000 different opinions, just go with what your gut tells ya  

Looks good btw  

[Echatham]

oh yeah i wasnt going to just brace it right away. i think i want to get it moving about ten inches or so before i get off the long string. now.... i have read two different things on the long string..... and that is "never pull more than 10# under desired draw weight"  and "pull to about 10# over draw weight" lol which is it? im sticking with 10# under unless i hear differently.

oh and another question.... on tillering.... do i want to leave the tips stiff.... meaning staying recurved.... or tiller so that the tips straighten out during the draw cycle?

[CardboardDuck]

Never pull past your intended draw weight, and always exercise everytime you remove wood and before pulling to the next inch if everything looks good. I like to leave my tips stiff until the rest of the limb is bending the way I want it to, the you can get them to just give a little.

This is just my advice and everyone does it differently.

[Echatham]

Originally posted by CardboardDuck:
Never pull past your intended draw weight

yeah I just thought maybe it had to do with the long string having a different geometry... and maybe 45# on the long string stresses the limbs either more or less than 45# on the short string.
I should have my engineer buddy work that one out for me. lol

[CardboardDuck]

The long string doesn't stress the outer limbs as much as the short string, so the long string lies. That is why you should try to get it on the short string as soon as it looks good with 6" or so of long string tip travel. 45# of stress is 45# of stress, it is just stressing different areas because of different string angles.

When I say "long" string I don't mean so long that it hangs off the bow like some you see on here, I like my long string to touch the belly.