first bow strange happenings

[underceej]

so this is my first bow and when i was working on it with my friend Parnell it was all going fine until we began to burn the back. in the process one side took a much larger curve then the other side did. I'm not sure what would have caused this any insight would be great. Also we began to bend the other side to level it out and it looks as though we got it pretty close. I guess I'm just wondering are there any ideas if I should try to curve the limbs more or begin the tillering process? if it helps the bow is 72" long made of hickory and has 1 & 3/4" limbs

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[Parnell]

Thanks for posting these CJ, so, whatya guys think?  We evened it up a bit with reflexing the other limb to match.  Another strange part of this, the more reflexed limb weighs much more...
Any thoughts?

[Pat B]

First off you shouldn't be heating the back. You don't want to make it brittle.  You can re-heat either or both limbs to make corrections again if needed. Give the bow a few days to rehydrate before stressing it after heat treating or straightening.

[underceej]

sorry meant to say we were heating the belly of the bow

[zenmonkeyman]

Was it stored on end before you started working on it?  Sounds to me like one limb has possibly wicked some moisture up.  Could explain both the heavy limb and the different reaction to heat.

[underceej]

no, the board was stored length wise so if anything the moisture should have pooled on the back or the belly

[yazoo]

could be the end of stave that was closer to the root,,all staves the rings are thicker and dencer on the end closest to the ground,,rings get thinner and less dence the higher up the tree you go,,,this is why you always build the bow the way it grew in the tree,, if you are making your lower limb shorter you want the root end of the stave down so your best wood will be in the lower limb,,which is stressed a little more,,,, mike

[mullet]

 I think you got one limb too hot.