D section limbs

[Dances with squirrels]

Does it DEcrease the elasticity? and/or alter it's propensity to fret one way or the other?

[Marc St Louis]

Does it DEcrease the elasticity? and/or alter it's propensity to fret one way or the other?

Not if done properly

[George Tsoukalas]

Yes, Marc, experience is a good teacher but bowyers have to start somewhere. I like those woods you mentioned too. Thanks, Marc. Jawge

[willie]

Marc

Not if done properly

Marc, DWS 's question has always been on the back of my mind also.  Could you explain a little more about what happens when it is not done properly? Maybe help us learn more from your experiments?

Obviously, too much heat is detrimental for any number of reasons, but that aside, have you noticed any trade-offs when you heat treat? Specifically, I am curious about what you have noticed about the way a bow takes set or acts different otherwise?
I work a lot with birch, have seen others write about  mixed results when heat treating.  Soon I should try seeing what heat treating will do to some other hardwoods that grow local, woods that hopefully will respond well, as they are not usually considered "bow woods".

thanks

willie

[Marc St Louis]

Too much heat will affect the elasticity of the wood negatively, black is a no no.  Because of its very thin rings HHB is a touchy one for heat-treating.  It responds extremely well to tempering but the back becomes the weak point in the bow and I have had some explode on me, not fun.  As I have said before, because heat-treating will increase the compression strength of the wood then the back is subjected to more stress hence the need for tension strong wood.  Some tension strong wood species like Elm do better with a high crown even when heat-treated, too much crown is not so good though.  There has to be a proper balance between tension and compression regardless of whether the wood is elastic or not.  The more elastic the wood is the more forgiving it is though plus you can adjust the sectional shape of the limbs to compensate for a weakness in tension due to a high crown or a flaw such as very thin rings.  Knowing everything about bows is impossible but the more experience you have the better decisions you can make with the wood you have to work with

[willie]

Thank you, Marc