Hickory heat treat and back sanding questions

[Azmdted]

Hi all,

Thanks for this great resource and all the beautiful work I've seen and helpful advice I've received here.  I'm working on my first Pignut Hickory flatbow now, 68 inches tip to tip, planning on making it 50# at 28".  I got it to floor tiller and then used a steam box to bend in reflex and some recurve into the limb tips.  After it cooled down I used a blow gun and attempted to heat treat the belly.  I heated till I got the wonderful aroma come up and the wood turned to a nice tan brown, but a few spots have the darker brown I see more generally in photos here for heat treating.  Unfortunately, I was looking towards the window while I did the heat treating and the wood looked darker than it does after finishing up and seeing it outside.

As far as heat treating, should I leave it as is?  Heat treat again before tillering, wait till I'm 80% or so done tillering and then treat it again, or something else?

Also, I'm wondering about finishing the back.  I'm on the layer just below the bark and cambium so there is a lot of natural dips and rises in the wood.  Is it safe to sand that down to flat or does that violate the outter fibers too much?

Thanks,

Ted

[PEARL DRUMS]

The only way you will know if your temper job worked is to start tillering it and watch for excessive set. If it acts like its giving up too much, heat it up again. Color alone cant answer the question.

As far as the back, hickory is always wavy. You have to leave it be. You can sand the bits of cambium off, but don't get into the growth right. 320 grit works good for that as it isn't aggressive enough to get down too far.

[Azmdted]

Thank you very much, I appreciate the information.