8' Eastern Red Cedar Too Twisted?

[ShueperDan]

So I found this gorgeous ERC with no knots or branches and perfectly straight, took it home and found a 90° twist from end to end over an 8'2" span. I've heard of ERC's brittle nature; did I just get some more firewood?

In the picture, I'm holding the end closest flat and even with the ground so that you can see more clearly the 90° twist. I could definitely split these staves in half again and get atleast 4 staves, depending on what yall say.

Also I've read that ERC makes fine ELB's, Ishi Styles, and Short-Wide-Backed bows like Modoc, any inputs? Also is sinew backing a must for an ERC? Thanks.



https://imgur.com/gallery/KkpUVYc

[DuBois]

Is it still pretty wet? If so rough it out, shellac it, and leave it a couple weeks to lose some moisture. I've had trouble bending ERC but I think you could get a lot of that out once you rough it out and hang weight to untwist it with dry heat and work your way toward tips one limb at a time. It seems to spring back a lot so go a bit extra. Oil it up before heat back and belly.
I would rough it out with a hatchet cause it helps me follow the grain but that's just how I do it anyways.
Can't hurt to play around with it and at least it smell pretty good!
There's my 2 cents.

[gutpile]

possible to work to rough dimensions and once dry...dry heat that twist out... plus will lose some of it when you cut to length it seems...I wouldnt split again if wet ..just gonna twist even more.IMO.....not a requirement to use sinew but a backing is for a hunting poundage bow... gut

[PatM]

 Does the bark visibly spiral? 

[peacefullymadewarbows]

1. Listen to Dubois and gutpile. All good advice.
 
2. I made an 82" ntn ERC unbacked warbow that had some minor twist along one limb and it has held up for a over a hundred shots and counting. So, it depends on what style you would be trying. If you can heat 60 degrees of twist out then you're probably good to go for almost any style. It might just be the picture but it looks like the farther 2 feet looks to twist more than the near 6 feet. I wonder how much twist you could get rid of by making shorter style bows. You could even cut 5 ft for one bow, then have those 3 feet left and split in half for billets which could be spliced to accommodate the twist.

Sorry if that didn't narrow it down at all.  The one asterisk is I don't have experience heat bending/twisting ERC. I think it responds pretty well but you will have to be extra careful with ERC to make sure it comes back to equilibrium moisture after heating before any bending occurs.

[Pat B]

Looks like most of the twist is at the far end. Maybe you can get 66" to 68" of stave with a little twist. If so you could reduce it to floor tiller stage without overstressing it and steam the twist out while it is still green.

[gutpile]

agree with Pat..if wet steam out, if dry , dry heat out twist... personally I would let dry some... rough out then dry heat twist out...and yes it must re hydrate some before bending or explosion will occur ..when cedar blows,  it blows violently..IME..haha ..gut

[loefflerchuck]

Get it to near bow size and clamp the twist out. You can use some steam to help if needed

[ShueperDan]

Thanks everyone, I took all of your advice and roughed out 2 bows, one short and white modoc, and another that I might make a Meare Heath out of; then I clamped it, straight, to a two by four while still wet. It's in the 80's this week here in Texas so I'll leave them in my car to dry out a bit. Thanks guys. Also, what's the deal with all this verification junk? Does this ever go away?

[Limbit]

Cut and splice the clean pieces between the two staves or flip around and match the twist when splicing. Another way to do it.

[bjrogg]

Dan, after you post a few times the verification stuff will go away. It's to stop spamming
Bjrogg

[mullet]

If you over build it you should be okay. Most cedar bows blow up in the making process because people try to bend it like wood they are used to using. When cedar feels like it does not want to bend it will blow if you keep trying to bend it more. Just make the limbs wide and if you want a 28" draw don't pull it to 29". Just ask Pearly.