A wooden bow that can be left strung at all times? Is it possible?

[toomanyknots]

What if it is more sinew than bow with a very thin limb that is extremely reflexed, with the most compression resistant wood there is (would that be osage?). There is probably no such thing as a wooden bow that can be left strung at all times, is there... I have read of hornbows being strung for a whole season and unstrung during the winter or something like that. I would think it would have to be made at leasy 20# stronger than the intentional weight for the weight that would be lost. 

[markinengland]

I thought that one reason why some wooden bows were made with deflexed tips was that the bow could be permanently braced because it was under very little tension.

[sailordad]

i have an uncle whom has a stick bow thats been braced for decades
the string looks taught yet at brace
but there is no tension on it anymore
damn near can string/unstring it without even bending the limbs 

[aznboi3644]

Just design it to be strung at all times. 

[toomanyknots]

"Just design it to be strung at all times."

I was trying to think of how to do that, but deep down inside I know no matter what I do in a week it will go the way of sailerdads uncles bow... ...short of making a horn/fiberglass bellyed bow... I was thinking of using one of those cord backings like inuit people used for there bows and just keep tighting the cord as the bow lost weight every once in a while? 

[PatM]

A Yukon bow with a bridge to hold the string off the arm is designed to be strung at all times.
 If you just need the bow to have an actual brace height for the string it's not that hard to do.
 Deflex a handle sharply to a five inch brace height and then brace the bow to six inches and it could be left strung with barely any stress on the wood. A no stretch string would flatter the brace tension.
 Many bows at llw brace height feel a bit spongy if the string is a stretchy material.

[Gordon]

Sandwich the limbs between two sheets of fiberglass 

[Badger]

  Gordon! You are a genius!!  LOL!

[JackCrafty]

The first crossbows were made of wood and were braced for long periods.  They were also cocked for long periods.  It's not hard to imagine why the limbs were made of composite materials shortly after they were developed for war... wood cannot hold tension for very long.  Compression, yes, but not tension.

[tombo]

In my opinion,  If you brace any bow... ANY BOW.. for a long period.. you WILL instill a memory and lose power. <- that's a period.  tom

[avcase]

Start with two naturally deflexed slats (12"+ of  deflex) and glue them up with enough reflex that the bow is straight when unbraced. Theoretically, such a bow will be under less stress when braced at 6" than unbraced and it should be possible to leave it braced indefinitely as long as it is kept very dry and away from heat. Any excess heat or moisture would nullify the effect by relaxing the beneficial prestressing effect.  A very good structural glue with zero creep is required. A perfect joint with Hot hide glue would work.

I tried it with small test pieces and it seems possible. It would be a neat experiment to see if one could make it happen with a full size bow. It's been on my list of things to try.

It could be taken a step further if the belly slat was heat treated.
 Alan

[Kegan]

It seems most of the solutions are worse than the problem. Enlighten me to the situation, why need the bow be strung at all times?

[toomanyknots]

"It seems most of the solutions are worse than the problem. Enlighten me to the situation, why need the bow be strung at all times?"

I don't really have a need, I just was thinking if it could be done/attempted.

[George Tsoukalas]

Nope. Jawge

[Pappy]

I'm with Jawges and Kegan,don't think so and see no reason to try. Let us know if you find the answer,till then I will just take the short time it takes to un string mine when I ant shooting it.
I think Gordon had the right answer.
   Pappy