Heat treating question

[DC]

I'm working on an Ocean Spray bow. It had about an inch of reflex in one limb and an inch of deflex in the other. It was confusing me a bit in tillering so I decided to even the limbs out and heat treat it at the same time. I heated both limbs to the same color and put the about 2" of reflex in both limbs. When I retillered I had to take a lot more wood off the formerly deflexed side. Now one side is way darker than the other. Any idea how I can tell if the heat treatment is still more or less equal or should I just re-do the lighter limb?

[penderbender]

I would re-heat the lighter one, probably scraped off all the last treatment. Heat treating only goes so deep into the wood, like 1/8-3/16 of an inch. Just my opinion.

[Pat B]

I've never worked with OS but with other whitewoods I'd clamp the handle to a reflexed form and work each limb separately with the heat gun, clamping as you go out the limb. Then I'd go back over both bellies with the heat gun to a chocolate brown color and let it cool and rehydrate for a few days.

[SLIMBOB]

+1 Pat B.  Anytime I scrape the dark off during tillering I will hit her again, especially if I have them uneven in color.  I have been heat tempering now for only a couple of years but thats over maybe 20+ bows of varying woods.  Just my opinion but white woods early at floor tiller and then again as I scrape the darkness off during tillering.

[DC]

 In TBB IV Marc says that dense woods don't hear treat as well as lighter woods.  OS seems to be an anomaly. It treats really well even though I have measured the SG on some pieces to be over 1. It sinks. I will probably re-treat it. I have an idea I want to try.

[Pat B]

Everything that isn't osage, locust, yew and mulberry I consider whitewood. I heat treat everything now and have found at least some benefit in it.

[SLIMBOB]

Same here Pat.  Even Osage for me.  The benefit might not be as great as on white woods, but there is a benefit on most all I have done. 

[Pat B]

I agree, Bob.

[SLIMBOB]

The question for me is usually, can the back take it?  Meaning higher crowns and knotty staves were always a bit of a gamble for me to heat treat.  But in no case (yet) did any of those high crowned or knotty staves suffer as a result.  I did a bow a few years back (Knotty Boy) that was both.  High crowned and knotty.  Pretty thin ringed as well.  I tempered the devil out of it just to see the results.  I cant tell you that the tempering was anything but a benefit.  Additionally, the bow sat in the corner for some months and picked up 10 or 15 lbs in draw weight.  This is after shooting it in for several months once it was finished.  I cant say that tempering was the cause, but the point is it didn't hurt anything, and I believe it was at least partly responsible for this bows performance.