Natural deflex should i remove it?

[John Malone]

Hey guys The board bow I'm working on has about an inch of deflex. Its pretty gradual mid to outer limbs area. I would have flipped it around but there was a tiny spot that seemed to dictate it was the belly side, after removing wood to 5/8ths the spot is gone but the riser is already glued on. I'm no stranger to steam bending for furniture so should I steam out the deflex or let it ride? At 5/8 thick its way to stiff but it wont take much wood removal to get it right. Is it to close to finish dimensions to steam without weakening the wood? Guess I'm asking is it worth it? Its red oak by the way 72 t2t flat bow 1.5 wide out to mid limb.

[Bowjunkie]

I wouldn't. First off, I wouldn't care. I've made bows with a lot more difference between the limbs than that. What matters is that the limb strengths are balanced relative to your holds at full draw. Not what it looks like at brace or unbraced.

Second, I wouldn't steam a dried piece. If I wanted to move it 5/8, I'd hit it with the heat gun. But like I said, I wouldn't worry about it.

[John Malone]

Thanks Bowjunkie. I'm going to start tillering it.

[Pat B]

Do you have a backing strip you could use on this board?

[George Tsoukalas]

Be careful ...knots, no matter how small on a board can be problematic.  Jawge

[John Malone]

No backing strip. I think I know were you're going with that. Been reading the TBB and was just worried about the effects on performance. This is my first flat bow so I wanted to keep it simple, no gluing in reflex or backing strips just plain jane and simple. Should have done it while it was a raw board       Made a bent wood rocker for my grandmother once, I could glue and steam it up into a circle if I wanted to    :p .  I really like the idea of a flat bow or ALB vs a pyramid. I will be building this style over the next year hopefully perfecting it, might even be ready for the 2019 bow swap.
 Thanks guys.

[John Malone]

Jawge, it looked like a small pin knot only in color so I made it the belly. But its totally gone now.

[Pat B]

I'd try an Eastern Woodland(Cherokee) style bendy. That would put the stresses throughout the entire bow. Don't worry about the deflex.

[John Malone]

That's next on my list, but I know diddly squat about bendy bows never even shot one that I remember.

[Eric Krewson]

You could heat treat the belly on a slightly reflexed form, the best of both worlds.