Heat treat again?

[WhistlingBadger]

I'm about to travel into more humid climes with Big Red, my trusty pyramid bow of hickory.  I was just putting a coat of lard/wax/pitch on it to keep out the humidity, and it occurred to me that it has lost its reflex over the past couple years.  Would it be worth putting it on the form and heating some reflex back into it?  Would that be detrimental?  Or just a waste of time?

Here's the bow.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=70991

[Hamish]

Its lost its reflex, but does it actually have much stringfollow,  and has it dropped in draw weight? How long are you going to be in the humid zone? Are you prepared to have to redo the leather grip, and overlays if the glue line lifts during heat treatment?

Personally I wouldn't bother if I was happy how the bow performs for your task eg hunting the difference won't matter much, if it's a flight shoot bow you might risk it, for the extra distance.

In all likelihood hickory will respond favorably to another heat treat/small reflex, for the short term, but sooner or later it will probably return to its current condition. 

[WhistlingBadger]

We're going to be in Nebraska for a week.  The  bow has about 1/2" of follow on one limb; the other is straight.  I haven't tested the weight since I originally tillered it but I don't think it's lost more than a couple pounds.  I'm happy with how it shoots, but if cooking it a little would make it shoot a little flatter, I'd consider it worth the effort.

[Hamish]

I'm more of an "If it aint broke don't fix it" kind of guy, but that's just me. The very slight stringfollow is what you would expect if the bow started out with 1.5-2" of reflex, still in the high to ideal range.

Sounds like you are prepared for any minor potential risk, or inconvenience so you may as well give it a go

[Selfbowman]

With Osage it would not help I my opinion. Is Nebraska that humid??

[superdav95]

I would agree with hamish here.  That being said I’ve heat treated fully complete bows up to 3 times without explosion.  The gains are short lived most of the time however and seem to return back to what they once were to a point.  The only exception to this has been a bow that I completed and shot in which took 1.5” set and was plenty heavy for what I needed so I retillered and re did the heat treat deeper then initial.  It not only took less set in the end and actually gained reflex of 2”.  This is not normally how it works but in this case I was able to scrape enough compressed belly cells during retiller to lighter draw weight with darker cook.  I guess if it’s a mild cook and you want to risk it it may in fact benefit from deeper Re cook.  Obviously there are limits to these things but just my personal experience with it.  Best of luck.   

[WhistlingBadger]

Well, this is my favorite hunting bow, and I like it, so maybe I'll leave well enough alone.  Is a week in a hot, humid climate going to hurt a hickory bow?

[TimBo]

I'd be more worried if you were traveling to Missouri.  I didn't know they had humidity that far west...

[WhistlingBadger]

I'd be more worried if you were traveling to Missouri.  I didn't know they had humidity that far west...

Well, it's humid compared to Wyoming.  But so are most places.   

[Eric Krewson]

I have found the first heat treat works the magic, the second one down the road looks good for a short period of time but doesn't last like the first heat treat session.

[WhistlingBadger]

I have found the first heat treat works the magic, the second one down the road looks good for a short period of time but doesn't last like the first heat treat session.

It's interesting that I toasted the belly to a nice, dark brown a couple years ago, but there is almost no trace of that darkness now.  But like I said, it shoots OK, so I guess I won't mess with it too much, at least until I have another one or two made that I like. 

Thanks for the advice, guys.

[hammerstone]

If you have a hot box, I would put it in there for 18 to 24 hrs, then reseal it