Tempering wood

[Eric Garza]

Would anyone be willing to offer basic instruction in tempering wood?  I have a 57 inch ash flatbow that I'm working on, and as I get to where I'll start tillering it I want to temper the belly in hopes of fending off as much set as I can. 

Thanks!

-Eric

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

you'll get better advice from others, all I can say, keep a fair distance from the bow, tempering is a slow process not a quick burning of the surface, if it gets to dark you're to close,....and, you can temper several times even throughout the tillering process

[Ryano]

I've gotten to the point where I like to wait until I have the bow tillered to brace before I heat treat it if I'm going to. It seems to temper all the way through easier with less wood. You can use a heat gun or I like to use the burner on my kitchen stove(electric). You want to heat the wood all the way through so hot you cant touch it, which usually leaves the belly side browned or darkened up a bit but not scorched (black) It should take 15 to 20 minutes per limb depending on your limb thickness and your heat source.

[The Burnt Hill Archer]

ya ought to check out gordons hazlenut bow build along. he heat tempers the belly and explanes it pretty well. i just did a hickory bow that i am working on using his method and it worked out pretty well.

Phil

[Pat B]

Heat treating doesn't prevent bad tillering from messing up a good bow. I see it as a way to increase the performance of a bow not help you tiller without set. Take your time, don't stress the uneducated limbs and get your bow to brace, like Ryan said, then heat treat it to inprove the cast.     Pat

[wvfknapper]

This heat tempering method,, do you think it works due to removing moisture from the wood or hardening the resins ? Both ?  Does it work well on Osage and locust? Seems like if the hardening was the case then it would work exceptionally well on Osage and locust which are a resinous wood ,, I know hickory likes low moisture content, but what about Osage ? Moisture content for good bending without string follow?

lots of questions

Thanks

wvflintknapper

[DanaM]

We need to wait for TBB Vol 4 when Marc will devulge all his secrets
Right Marc? 

[Ryano]

Robert it does both, and yes it works well on Osage. Especially wood with marginal early to late growth ratio. In my totally nonscientific opinion it seems to harden the other wise spongy early growth and make it more compression resistant. Thats just my experiance with it. 

[Pappy]

I do it like Ryan,after tillering .I usually do it when I have it out to about 20 inches.
I will put it back on the form and heat it all the way through and the belly just starts
to change color kind of light brown.It dose really seem to help it to hold and will
usually add 4/5 lbs. of weight.Then I finish tweeking the tiller out to where ever I
wanted it to be.
   Pappy

[Marc St Louis]

Yes the TBB4 has a chapter on heat treating

[Hillbilly]

Is it a bendy-handled or stiff-handled bow? What drawlength? With an ash selfbow only 57" long, if it's stiff-handled;  prayer may be more effective at eliminating set than tempering.   

[tpoof]

  prayer may be more effective at eliminating set than tempering.

haha,,, tis true 

[Eric Garza]

The bow will be stiff-handled, but the handle is only three inches long.  The fades are relatively long at two inches and will be tillered to bend, so the total non-bending section of the handle is quite small. 

I'll also be backing the bow with 4 or more layers of sinew once I bend in the recurves, so I suspect this will help string follow a little also.  I assume tempering has to be done before sinew backing.

-Eric

[Sidewinder]

Eric, I wish you well on executing this manuver. I will be watching your results as I will be doing some of that in the near future and its always good to learn from others efforts. If you heat treat it and sinew back it that should add some weight as well won't it. Does anyone have a good gauge as to how much he should expect?  Danny

[Ryano]

Definitely heat treat before you sinew, or the heat will cook the sinew and melt the hide glue.