I am working on a short 55" t2t Ash bow for my daughter. It will be about 30# when done. I am using a Rake handle with nice straight grain and I flattened a back with it as quarter sawn. The dimensions are 1 1/4" wide at the handle and then a straight taper to 1/2" tips. I read that ash is not very good compression wood and tends to have compression fractures. I also want to flip the tips so my question is do I need to heat treat the belly before or after bending the tips? I am pretty impressed with the wood so far, it works very well and is extremely light.
