Reluctant limb

[DC]

You ever have a limb that just refuses to steam straight? I have an Ocean Spray bow with a sideways bend mid limb that I have straightened a half dozen times at least. It's about 1/2" thick and I've steamed it for up to an hour and a half, over bent it by 50% and left it in the caul for two days after steaming. It will stay straight for a couple of days if I don't touch it but as soon as I start bending it, it slowly works it way back. It bends just enough to bring the string off the handle. Just enough that I have to do something. Do you think steaming and then heat treating just the belly would help. I've been thinking that heat treating just the belly on a sideways bend might not be effective. Ideas?

[Badger]

   Hold the bow loosely in your hand when you draw it so it is only resting on the web between the thumb and forefinger. See if it lines up at some point, you may need to reorient your handle some, like build up one side where it twist the whole bow a few degrees.

[DC]

Just tried that. It's got pretty big recurves and by the time the string is in the middleish of the handle the recurves are leaning way off to one side and the string is almost coming off the edge. It's spliced so I might recut that and just let the limb do what it wants. Or as an experiment I could steam and bend the splice. But then I'd be afraid to draw it . I did boil and test an epoxy joint the other day and it seemed to hold. This one has been in and out of the corner of shame for almost a year. it's time is just about up.

[Del the cat]

I've had similar with one piece of Yew... eventually I got it corrected with heat and then too it even hot to heat treating temperature and that seemed to set it in position.
E.G 100 degrees C allows it to bend 200+ C actually hardens it and helps fix it in position.
Del

[leonwood]

Yeah I tried to build a yew elb with sideways bend of about five inches. Thought it would straighten out with some heat. I gave up after four steam sessions and four heat treatments with the heatgun. It kept creeping back to that sideways bend everytime after a few days

[DC]

I decided to go with the experiment and try to steam and bend the epoxied splice. The expected happened. It held until I tried to bend it just a bit and then the joint on the outside of the bend opened up. So now we know for sure West Systems 105/205 can't take that kind of abuse. No big surprise, but it won't bother me wondering about it any more. I'll redo the splice with a little offset in it. I'll lose a 1/2" or so of length, no big deal.

[ohma2]

Love your never quit attitude DC

[DC]

I'm just too cheap and stubborn to throw away a reasonably good bow

PS it's been in the corner of shame so long that I thought it was Ocean Spray, it's Douglas Maple.