Heat treatment for an elderberry bow?

[wstanley]

Hello,

Below is a bow in the making of elderberry from a 3” diameter branch. I cut it more than 4 years ago.

It’s going to be a bow for my nephew who is five - a big five year old. It’s probably 20lbs at this point.

I want to give it a heat treatment, but have never done it before. I keep things primitive and will be simply using coals from a large fire. Also I will be giving the bow a light backing of sinew. And will leave the tips rigid without sinew.

I realize there are variables which change the time and all, but how long would heat treatment take with the method I want to use?I realize I should not be burning the wood and so a few feet off the coals depending on the temp? Is this a 2 hour or so job, longer, recommendations? Thanks

[Deerhunter21]

Id say a 30- 1hr job since its thinner. go slow, and think about it like cooking. you could put the steak on a searing hot pan for a minute and have it look cooked on the outside and feel warm (even on the back), but on the inside its raw. or you could put the steak on a hot pan for longer and have it cooked all the way through and have a better steak (whether you want it medium rare or well done  )

[wstanley]

Copy that. Thanks Deerhunter

[TimBo]

Is it 20# at his draw length now?  That is already pretty heavy...I would say too heavy for most 5 year olds.  Heat treating will increase the weight a bit.  Being overbowed can lead to bad habits, and will not be as fun for him.  If you know he is comfortable with 20-25# draw, that is your call of course...if so, you can start making him a warbow for his 10th birthday!

If it were me, I would tiller that one down to 12-15 pounds (or less) at his draw, take the other half of the branch if you have it, and make myself a heat treated short bow as an experiment.

[wstanley]

Yea I’ve been pondering that draw weight. I have to check for sue but that’s what it feels like.

I may have to wait until he is older to give it to him! I’ll see how it turns out : )

The bow is pretty thin already so I’m afraid to take off any more than what will come off during tillering  (after the sinew application).

[PatM]

He's five.  Cut a small sapling and tie a piece of paracord on it.

[wstanley]

He may like it just the same. But for me I want to make it special for the lil guy. I don’t see him often and promised him a bow last time I saw him. Any heat treatment advice to stick to the topic?

[PatM]

OK.  Don't heat treat it. 


 Or sinew it.

[Weylin]

I agree with Pat that a kids bow for a 5 year old doesn't need heat treating or sinew. That doesn't mean that you can't make it special. A few minutes of creative stain work can really make a kids bow pop. I use leather dye because it's easy, fast drying and super vibrant. a leather handle wrap can add a lot too. They are fairly cheap, easy and quick compared to sinew and heat tempering and the kid will appreciate them more because they are more visually appealing. Here is an example of a kids bow that I made to go a long with a bow for her Mom. The adult bow is a bit more fancy but you can see what I did with the kids bow. Even if you don't spruce it up that much I'm sure he'll be stoked to have something that launches arrows.

[wstanley]

Those are beautiful bows thanks for sharing. True sinew and heat treatment isn’t essential to make it special, just the standard I set I guess.

That’s a great idea to add color. Your right their kids and if it looks cool and shoots an arrow then they’re happy!

Confession to be made is that uncle really wants to test elderberry with sinew ; )... . I’ll try on another!

Thanks for the advice.

[bownarra]

If YOU want to sinew and heat treat a bow you do it. I would say it is a little over the top but that is your choice.
Elder takes heat treating very,very well. Elder really is top notch wood (at least the pieces I have used have been!)
I wish my old man had made me a bow when I was a youngster...nothing would've been safe haha Good on ya

[wstanley]

Thanks. Good to hear that elderberry takes heat well. Yea I am still set on doing the heat/sinew but realize it may not be the best bow for a 5 year old.

Yea I’m really impressed with elderberry so far and I can see it being a wood I use more often. I also make arrows and use it for starting fires the primitive way. Very versatile.

Do you sinew back elderberry too?

[Del the cat]

Just my opinion...
The problem with kids bows is making them light enough... tillering light bows is tricky because removing very small amounts of wood can make a relatively big difference. (E.G removing 1/16" from a bow that is 3/4" of an inch thick won't make too much difference. but removing 1/16" from a bow that is 3/16" thick will make a huge difference).
Heat treating and sinew backing will only make these problems vastly worse. If you want to heat treat and sinew back a bow, do it on something at least 40#
Del

[wstanley]

Copy that Del. I'm pretty thin already so I totally see that being an issue later on. Thanks, helps me weigh out my options.