First try bending hickory

[paulc]

I got greedy 

Live and learn....Paul

[bjrogg]

Paulc it looks like you can remove most all of that wood shaping your tips. I'm just looking on my phone but guessing it on belly side? It's pretty common for that to happen. I use a thin steel backer strip to help hold splinters down. Put some thin super glue on it and let it dry good if it's shaped how you'd like. Chances are pretty good you can rasp it all off when you narrow up and the thin down your tips
Bjrogg
PS you might want to thin them down a bit more before trying to bend them. It looks like your using dry heat. I like steam for tips. Dry for tweaking but I'm sure lots of guys use dry.
Bjrogg

[bjrogg]

If you look in around campfire section at top under tips and tricks page 4 has pictures of my setup for metal backer strip. I think there's others there to.
Bjrogg
I'd post the pictures here but I can't find them. Must have deleted

[paulc]

I did exactly like you were saying Bjrogg. Tips were still a full 5/8 belly to back so I reduced to 1/2".  Both tips splintered a little but 98% of it sanded out.

There might still be a bow in here. Currently pulling about 35lbs at about 2" draw so lots of wood to work with.

Paul

[Pat B]

What heat source are you using? Steam or boiling works best with hickory.

[simk]

I^d blame the kinda radius of that caul 

[PatM]

 You can buy a shepherds crook of hickory with a curve a whole lot sharper than that.    Soaking and then boiling or steaming allows very sharp bends to be made.

[paulc]

In my reading I got the sense of dry heat for dry wood and steam for wet wood...I have had this piece for literally 15yrs...figured it was dry.

So would dry/wet be better depending on wood species? Is everyone saying wet heat for hickory regardless of dry or wet wood?
Paul

[PatM]

If you really want to bend wood, it has to be with wet heat.  Soaking makes it "green" again.

[Pat B]

Yes, Paul. Hickory especially needs wet heat for smooth bending and to hold the bend when dry and cooled. You can use shellac on the back to help prevent any checking that might occur. I keep spray shellac on my work bench all the time. Also, you can set the bend with dry heat after the wood has dried well.
 Slight adjustments can be made with dry heat on hickory but for recurves and drastic bends, steam(or boiling) is your best bet.

[bjrogg]

There's definitely still a bow in there Paul. Don't forget that your limbs will be thinner as they go from fades to tip. There is more stress right out of fade and less stress at tips. You don't want very end of tips to bend but just before them. To get outer limb to bend you might be surprised how much wood can still come off. And how much can come off static recurves and still not pull out. I haven't done a hickory yet but it looks like you've got a good start there to me.
Bjrogg

[Eric Krewson]

My last bow was a hickory just like that, I boiled the tips, had some splintering but added a long osage overlay to reinforce the bend after I filed all the cracks out.

[paulc]

Good to know....I wondered about adding some kind of reinforcement.

[DC]

Eric, is there any reason you put the overlay on the back rather than the belly?

[Eric Krewson]

Easier to put on, flat surface, the belly is rounded, no string grooves, I bent it on the same form I bent the bow on.