NW GUYS

[mullet]

I got a question for you NW'ern guys, I'm needing to straighten a twist and bend some curves in a Cascara bow I'm working on. Will that wood take dry heat or do I need to steam it?

I experimented bending a Vine maple bow with the  micro wave and it took 45 seconds of heat to bend recurves in. I was just wondering if Cascara would work the same as vine maple?

[Parnell]

    Cool to read you got it going!

[mullet]

Yea, Steve, I started it over the weekend. That is some soft wood. It is like carving butter with a draw knife.

[Parnell]

I've got a 4 day weekend Memorial Day.  You want to think about that fishing trip, possibly?

[wizardgoat]

I haven't touched any of my cascara yet, but I've heard steam is what you want.

[mullet]

Thanks, Ryan. If that's the case then the oven will work.

[helmet]

I made one, and tried straightening laterally near the handle with dry heat. It did not want to stay even after repeated attempts. It broke at that spot the first time I strung it.

[vinemaplebows]

Eddie,

                       Wrap the area you want to bend with a wet rag, let it sit for 4-6 hrs tightly wrapped. Nuke away, BUT BEND VERY SLOWLY.

[mullet]

Brian; I thought about soaking that area in a bucket of water, wrapping it and then the nuc. How's that sound?

[vinemaplebows]

Ya, that should work, but remember to let it dry, maybe even a little heat gun help to assure it is dry.  Make sure that you give a little extra thickness in the length of the bend. In the past I noticed the wood to not want to hold curves, start thicker than you think is needed.

[mullet]

Micro wave worked on "pizza". :-)