Best (and worst) wood for holding reflex?

[JackCrafty]

Been doin' a lot of reading on reflex and my eyes are starting to  .

Could you guys give me your opinions on which woods are the best (or worst) at holding heat-induced reflex?  I've been experimenting with hickory lately (because I've got a bunch of it) and it doesn't hold reflex very well.  I've tried heat tempering the belly and it seems to help.  I wish I had more time to experiment. 

Here's my personal experience:

Stave Mulberry - excellent
Lumberyard Ipe - good (if the stave doesn't fail during heat treatment)
Lumberyard Ash - good (at low draw weight)
Lumberyard Oak - same as Ash
Stave Hickory - not good
Stave Ashe juniper - good (but slowly looses about 25%-50% reflex with time & humidity changes)
Stave Elm - seems pretty good, but I've only made child-strength bows with it so far.

Thanks   

[Badger]

Jack, I have has such mixed results with reflex that I really couldn't say or rate any wood. Osage has always seemed good to me as has hornbeam and elm. Moisture plays a huge part in how well a bow will hold it's reflex. Steve

[Justin Snyder]

Ipe is nearly impossible to add heat induced reflex.  In fact, some of us are still trying to bend a piece, not sure it can be done.  We have tried dry heat, boiling and steaming.  Justin

[JackCrafty]

Thanks Badger.

Justin, yeah I know.  I've had some limited success with thin, flat ipe (1/2" thick or less) and using lots of dry heat only on the compression side.  It can be done...I've got a couple ipe bows with slight recurves.....but it's tricky.  You've got to let off the bending pressure as soon as you feel the heated wood "give" a little....and then cross your fingers.   

[Badger]

    One thing I have noticed is that if I keep an area pretty stiff it seems to hold the reflex better than if it is bending equaly. After thinking about this for a while I still can't hardly rate any particular wood except maybe osage which seems to hold pretty well. Most of my hickory bows the reflex pulls out of unless I do deep heat treating. If a guy likes making really fancy recurves I would have to say hackberry is about the easiest of all woods to bend in very tight bends using steam, and if dried properly will hold the bends, Steve

[Marc St Louis]

With tempering I would put Elm right at the top with HHB next to it.

[JackCrafty]

Badger, I've noticed that a reflex has better staying power if I bend the wood when it's green and then let it dry, rather than let it dry and then bend it.  Have you noticed that also?

Marc, Elm & HHB?  Got plenty of that.....need to start bendin'.     Thanks.

[Badger]

Jack, I seldom dry any of my own wood as I buy most of it from stave dealers. Mark, would likley have a good opinion on this as I think he starts a lot of his bows in the green stages. Steve

[SimonUK]

Only ever tried elm (good) and ash (moderate).

[AndrewS]

I think osage is very good, elm is very good and with hickory it is a benefit to tempering the belly, but it is a pain in the ass to bend hickory in nice curves. A little bit of reflex 1-2" shouldn't be a problem, but if you want more bending....

[Rich Saffold]

I'm with Marc on this one.