Bending recurves

[DC]

I read here a while ago that after steaming in recurves that you can lock in the curve by toasting the belly of the curve a bit. How long should I wait between steaming and toasting?

[adb]

I steam bend most of my recurves (regardless of dryness of wood), and like you mentioned, I set them in with dry heat. I only wait til the wood has cooled to the touch (maybe 2 hours tops), then before I release the tip from the form, I toast it a bit with the heat gun. Works really great with osage. I find I lose <20% of what I put in this way.

[PEARL DRUMS]

I don't dry heat mine. I just give them a hook using steam and call it good. If they pull out some, I don't really notice in the end.

[wizardgoat]

I've done it a few times, but it's not really necessary.

[Prarie Bowyer]

Just leave on the form to cool.

[huisme]

That's my go-to method, though I always leave the bow on the form for at least three hours.

[H Rhodes]

Mild flips, I use dry heat, but for real recurving I prefer steam.  After steaming in the curves, i let it alone for three days.  I have not experienced many problems with using steam alone.  I never thought about dry heating it after steaming...  I have found that with white woods I need to leave them clamped to the form till they are completely cool, but with osage, the curve seems to be set in and permanent after just a few minutes.   

[PatM]

 I take the patient route and just leave the bow alone for a week or longer. You can test the holding power of a recurve by attempting to straighten one out forcefully. One left alone  is much more resistant.

[Blaflair2]

I steam and leave in about an hr on the form. Works for me

[Marc St Louis]

You can merely steam and leave it like that but if you are planning on heat-treating the bow after steaming then your best bet is to heat-treat the recurves after steaming otherwise the heat from the heat-gun will straighten out the recurves