So I am currently building a horsebow out of Rattan Manau. I don't know how popular that idea is around here, but over at fletchers corner it got quiet famous because its such a nice "light version" of an actual hornbow.
I'm planning to face it with american walnut, but tiller it as good as possible beforehand. I scraped the Manau down to about 13-15mm and strung that whole thing to braceheight. I gave it a careful littl pull and had to notice it was extremely easy to pull. Even though I am going to face it I'd still like it to be a little strong in of its own.
So I took the heat gun and roasted the belly. (at this time around 2-3 times on both limbs) After every heat treatment I noticed the limbs got quiet a lot harder to bend and it was noticable harder to string as well.
But as soon as it was at braceheight... boom poundage gone! Feels like 5 pounds. Now I have never pulled a recurved bow or one with siyahs before. Anybody got an idea?