Bending with heat

[Lars Groteballen]

This is from and elm stave cut on the property.  I's set it behind the stove (about 110 - 120 deg) after working on it.  68" tt, 8" handle, 17" working, 12" non-working.  Tillered and one limb was bending more so got the other limb even and pretty soon - 30 pounds of marshmallowy goodness.

Wood was probably too wet when I started exercising it.

So, I really am still using this bow to practice more skills.  I backed it with linen and that turned out good.  Now I'd like to shorten the non working limbs and bend them into recurve. 

Probably can't turn it into a good shooting bow, but I'll get some experience.  I'm a genius at learning by doing it wrong the first time.

Thanks for all your help past and future.  I've got another bow working, and I'm going much slower. 

[PEARL DRUMS]

Recurving the last 6" of tip will add significant draw weight. Shorten it up a few inches for fun. 

[lostarrow]

I don't know what glue you used to put your backing on , but most are heat sensitive. Some are also water soluble. You'll likely bugger the backing.  We've all had less than desirable outcomes with the bows we've made. At some point you have to stop kicking a dead horse, dust yourself off and start again . If you want to learn how to bend wood, why not use scraps that arent fit for bows.(which is maybe now the case with your bow from the loving description you gave)Marshmallowy goodness.LOL. It will greatly increase the speed at which you learn,as you won't be putting in all of the time on a bow and then be afraid to push the limits for fear of ruining many hours of work.There is no harm in experimenting with a bow that didn't turn out, but somtimes the experiment  may turn you off of a particular process because it "didn't really improve things". As long as you realise this ,you can either bury that horse or autopsy it  good luck with what ever you choose. Post the outcome of course . Good or bad , it's still an outcome.