question about steam bending

[ben]

Hey guys ive almost finished a 50" hickory flatbow and my next step is to flip the tips up at the last two inches or so. Should I go with maybe twenty degrees of bend at the tips? And if i go with that, would i have to actually bend it at maybe forty-five degrees just in case the flip ups pull out after shooting awhile? The bow is going to get a couple courses of sinew and is going to be 50#/26". Its a stiff narrow handle design with the limbs being two inches wide until the last eight inches tapering to 1/2 tips. Any help would be greatly appreciated.    

[tom sawyer]

Does the bow bend in the tip area you intend to flip?  I would go for the 20 degree bend, and as short a length as I could get away with (maybe 3 or 4").  That'll improve your string angle enough, and it won't pull out if the tips are still somewhat stiff.  If the bow is bending through that area, you might have to bolster it a bit with some extra sinew.

I'd boil the tips, they'll get hot enough faster.  And you might want to strap the belly so it doesn't splinter, though a modest bend might not require it.

[Ryano]

you could flip the tips up 20 degrees with dry heat from a heat gun no problem. best not to add moisture to hickory unless you need to.of course your going to add sinew anyways so ai guess it really doesnt matter to much, since you'll have a few weeks to weight for that to dry anyways....

[ben]

Yes the bow does bend alittle at the tips. So yall think that i should bend the last three or four inches instead of the last two? 

[GregB]

Ben, I don't think two inches is enough to get much of a bend going on. Starting the bend at 4-6" from the tips I think would be more apt to give you the results you're after. I'm more experienced with the dry heat route then boiling. You might rub a small amount of cooking oil on the belly only in the spot you plan to heat prior to using dry heat. I don't think hickory bends as readily to dry heat as does osage, I've always used our most highly reflexed form on hickory to get the same amount of reflex that osage will hold on a lesser radiused form.

I'd like to learn more about the boiling method in terms of how seasoned the wood should be, any problems afterwards with checks, how long to allow to dry before working the limbs, etc.