New guy saying Hello

[stickbender]

     Welcome!  Contact "Mullet" Eddie Parker, in Lakeland, he will get you going in the right lane.  Send him a PM.  Like Parnell said you have some good bowyers in the area, as well as knappers.
     It's about time you joined the addiction group.  We don't help you to get off of your addiction, we encourage you to keep it going!  Take it slow and easy on the tiller.
                                    Wayne

[Parnell]

Grab some olive oil or Crisco and a heat source.  Give the limbs a thin coat of oil, give 'em some slow heat and then you can simply just apply pressure on the ground to give the limbs a little reflex just using your hands.  Let it cool before you let off the pressure or have a wet rag handy to cool it quick once you've treated it some.  Of course, you can use forms to induce a recurve and all but you don't need it to start.  When I met Mullet about 5 years ago he showed me this.  Don't fear it or love it, after all it's just a piece of wood!

Keep us posted...

[alwayslookin]

Thanks parnell. One question should I put the reflex in before I finish tillering or after and how long after I put the reflex in should wait before continuing the tiller.

[Parnell]

Put it in now.  Generally, you would ground tiller a bow and then do your reflex/recurves before you start tillering.  I would give it some reflex and "flip the tips" - that is, just kick them out slightly.  Give the limbs a good toasting with the heat and brown 'em up a bit.  Then, it's good practice to give the wood some time (overnight at least) to rehydrate some.  I think that helps the wood to avoid stress fractures (chrystling).

[alwayslookin]

OK sorry if I have to many questions parnell but when I am heating to put in the reflex. Do I do sections at a time like typical heat treating or do I try to heat up the whole limb at once. Say using the heat gun and just running it up and down the limb?

[Parnell]

No worries about the questions!  That's why we are here and I don't mind. 

People will do it both ways.  You can clamp and heat individual sections which is common with the recurve or just free-hand it. 
As you are already in the tiller, I would free-hand it.  Do like you think, oil the limb then run the heat gun up and down the limb until it becomes hot to the touch and induce some reflex, like a reversed ground tiller.  You can focus more pressure on the lower third of the limb to give it some reflex and then really focus some pressure on the tips.  Just be sure to get yourself comfortable to be able to hold the reflexed shape for several minutes while cooling with a wet rag if doing it by hand.

Use the force, young Jedi, your instincts will serve you well...

PM me if you need contact information or want a conversation to answer questions.  I don't mind.

[IndianKid]

Welcome!  This folks here are awesome.
I just joined and found that posts usually get replied to
quicker than any other forum I had ever been involved
with!

Also, I have a Droid and down loaded photo reduce,
It's pretty quick and easy. I'm sure if you use apple there will
be something equivalent.

[alwayslookin]

So I was heat treating the bow and introducing reflex and I used weights hanging off the tips and this happened please help guys

[missilemaster]

First, you do not want to use weights hanging on your tips to get reflex. The first place you heat is going to fold on you. you need to build a form that is narower that your bow limb, I use 1". The whole perpose of a form is to control the shape. with weights on the tips you have no control. 

  The crack is on the belly side, so you should be fine to just flood it with super glue and keep going. Make sure that after heat treating that you allow the wood to rehydrate.

[alwayslookin]

Thanks man. That's exactly what I did saturate it with super glue. Should I avoid the super glue when tillering?

[Parnell]

Did it appear when you were reflexing the limb or when you went to bend the limb in tiller after you had given it some heat?

Looks like what is called a "chrystle".  I never remember the spelling...

They often form in a weaker area of the limb where a hinge is developing.  Nothing to do but keep moving forward. 

Where is that placed on the limb?

P.s.  I'm also wondering about the cross-section.  Is your back flat or rounded?  Is that area a "low spot"?

[alwayslookin]

It appeared when reflexing. It's located mid limb and yes my back is rounded with a flat belly.  It doesnt look like a low spot. I put super glue in it and hope it stays it's will be my first real bow I'm proud of and I don't really have much else to work on that is dry yet and those aren't great anyways. 

[Stringman]

Don't avoid it during tillering. Unless it is already looking like a hinge. As you scrape across it, if you notice that it needs more superglue, then fill it again.

[alwayslookin]

How long do I let it rehydrate? And thanks Indian kid I did the same thing on my Droid seems to be the easiest way for me.

[alwayslookin]

Hey parnell are you getting my messages on here? It keeps saying no sent messages after I send it. Weird?