straighening HHB sapling

[Matt A]

I have a HHB sapling that i need to straighten one half. can i use my heat gun without jeopardizing that red bark layer?

[Pat B]

If it is fresh bind it to a form(reflexed) and let it cure out like that. Then build the bow.
I'm doing this with a peach sucker(2" diameter) I cut not long ago. I'll let the peach season for a year probably before I mess with it.

[Matt A]

this is a piece my grandpa cut many years ago for ax handles and handed it off to me so cured i hope 

[Pat B]

I just built a HHB bow. It responded well to dry heat and oil(nothing extreme). The HHB stave had cured for maybe 5 years before I built the bow.

[Matt A]

ok i will give it a shot next time in the shop thanks for the info. say how do you folks post pictures on here? it would probably help you help me more if i had some.

[straightarrow]

Wet or dry I've had my best luck using steam. I've done oil and dry heat and always seem to lift a splinter. The last couple times.... I've put it over a boiling pot covered with foil for about 40 minutes and they turned right over like butter..... maybe it was me, but I've never had problems with other types of wood that was dry

Jon

[straightarrow]

 Oops...... guess I should have read better. I thought you were flipping. Dry heat should be fine....... it shouldn't take much to get it to straighten

[George Tsoukalas]

red bark layer? Jawge

[straightarrow]

I think he might be talking about the cambium .... if so...FYI you don't want to heat that side

Jon

[Pat B]

Yes, only heat the belly and sides.

[Matt A]

yes jawg that red cambium layer under the rough bark. and that's another thing i wanna try and straighten it before i cut it any lol how sore is my arm gonna be from holding that gun long enough to get enough heat to bend just heating the belly?? lol

P.S there is a quarter inch knot at one end about an inch from the end. work around it or cut the stave shorter?

[Judo Point]

Hey Matt I just finished my first bow and it was hhb I didnt have to straighten anything but I did flip the tips and I used a heat gun and oil and it responded nicely to it just go slow and keep the heat moving. Oh and yes only the belly. Also the cambium layer needs to come off and you need to be real careful doing it cause there are alot of ridges and valleys in the wood and you don't want to cut them I used a table spoon to take it off and steamed it every now and then to soften it up. So steaming might be your best bet kill two birds with one stone. It's a long tedious process but leaves you with a nice pristine back. But as far as the knots it would be nice to see pics. If you put them on photobucket its real simple just copy and paste the image code. Like I said I just finished my first bow so others might have better advice but I'm pretty happy with how mine turned out I should have pics up tomorrow. Good luck and keep us posted I love seeing hhb bows!
Mike