Next Grandson's bow

[WTK]

After 2 fail attempts I switched to all hickory and this one's holding together. I am disappointed in the amount of set that this one's picked up already. Has anyone heat treated the belly of a bow that's been glued up with urac.

[Pappy]

No I haven't ,but if you are dealing with Hickory be sure to keep it very dry.How much set has it taken?Tiller is looking good so far.Is is backed or just a handle glued on?
   Pappy

[WTK]

Pappy the moisture issue is what I'm concerned about. Our humidity here in New Mexico is low but the glue I used is Weldwood's plastic resin glue that is mixed with water. Thought about that this AM going to work so will try clamping the bow to the upper part of the form and adding heat to try and dry it out. I didn't measure the set but it's close to 4 inches which is way too much for a 48" bow. I make this style kids bow with a small curved riser core glued between 2 laminations. Then I glue the rest of the riser on the belly and shape that. Think I'll make the next one with more of a power lam that's longer and thinner in the middle to try and make the limb bend a little further out. This bows tiller is like this right out of the form.

[Pappy]

Wow that looks good for not having done anything to it.I would do what you said and make sure it is good and dry Hickory is real bad on that.
   Pappy

[tom sawyer]

Very nice looking bow.  How much set are you getting?  On a regular bow you expect a couple of inches, I suppose with a kids bow you would see at least an inch unless you are getting a low poundage right off the form as well.

I have had a devil of a time making kids bows too.  My problem was using too wide a design, which made the limb have to be super-thin and the thickness taper too fine to execute properly.  I finally got a shooter after going to about 1/2" width.

I've found that a R/D design seems to give me better results in the set department.  Is that what you are using, or did you just flip the tips a bit?

And how did you draw that nice ellipse?

[WTK]

TS it appears to have 4" of set which is way too much. Only had 3/4" on the first one I posted about earlier. I used the paint program to add the ellipse on the picture
 Yes it is a D/R bow. Here's the first one

[WTK]

I plan on cutting this in half and making a 3-piece out of it. This grandson's taller and needs more draw length. The 3-piece will make a 54" bow.

[Pat B]

Moisture from glue is a problem that most don't consider. I backed an osage recurve with snake skins and used TBII for the backing. After it was dry(I thought) I realized that it was only pulling about 45# instead of thev 56# it was supposed to. After another week of drying, she was back up to 56# where she was supposed to be.
   Hickory can takes on moisture fairly quickly but is slow to release it.   Pat

[WTK]

Went ahead and clamped the bow to the top of the form and heated till the wood turned dark, let it cool, and got rid of all but 3/4" of the string follow. Looks like it raised the poundage a bit too. Starting another one using maple for the belly so will see if it has as much trouble as this one.

[Pat B]

Let that bow rehydrate a bit before stringing it. They will get very brittle when you scorch them.   Pat

[WTK]

Thanks Pat! Looks like it's a good thing I had a honey do to keep me from stringing it right away.

[WTK]

Here's the bow now cut in half and made into a 3-piece showing the tiller. Looks like it could survive the heat treatment. Now a 54" bow, 18+ lbs at 24". The bocote riser will get additional wood glued in between the limbs that will be shaped to blend the limbs into the riser.