Tiller help please - Shortish Osage

[Vgo750]

60" Osage. 
- Currently 55@23 and want to get to 55@ 27.
- Flipped the tips but got more flip on one tip(top) vs the other. 
- I'd like the handle to bend slightly as well.

First time ive tillered a bow in quite a while so getting stuck staring lol.   So far is not really takin much set at all.  Thank yall so much for advice!


Unstrung profile:

[Pat B]

I think I'd flip the left tip again then get a little more bend just behind the tip. You can then bring the bend back into the handle from either side.

[Vgo750]

I dont have any pictures of it right now but when I initially did the tips I used dry heat and had some small cracks / seperations...very small...and running perfectly with grain that kinda scared me away from using more heat.  I read on PA a bunch about how the grain separations like i have are nothing to worry about but I did figure id just make them worse if i hit it with heat again.  You think i'd still be good to flip the one tip again?

[RyanY]

Depends on the unbraced shape but I think you could squeeze out a bit more bend from the outer 1/3 of the limb. If the recurve is mild enough it could straighten out too and take some of the load. I’d get it out a couple more inches and then work the handle/fades for the last few inches.

[Hamish]

 Are the tiny cracks on the back?
Did you oil the area before heat bending? I haven't had any issues since I started using canola oil.

[Vgo750]

The tiny cracks are on the back, yessir.  Yknow I honestly can’t remember if i used oil or not when I did these…I did them like 2 years ago.  Perhaps not, and perhaps I was getting it too hot.  Here is an up close pic of the tip that I need to add more bend to:


At this point, i’m not against hitting it with more heat and adding a wee bit more bend if thats the right move and yall think these cracks wouldn’t get worse

[Morgan]

The way it looks to me, left limb mid limb out needs to come around more. Short stiff spot just out of fade on Right limb ( careful with that one, I’d do it last, easy to get too much off real fast) and outer 1/3 on same limb needs to come around a bit more. It looks like the handle has bend in it already to me. If you want more flex there, I would do that at the very last if you still have the pounds to spare and go real slow. Don’t take much getting that handle moving, and easy to go too far. For me, if I feel it flex just a bit at the last inch or so of draw, it’s about right. If you have a very visible bend in the handle through the entire draw, it isn’t very comfortable to shoot and it is super easy to get set there, and performance wise, it is a terrible place to have set.

[Hamish]

Those are the type of cracks I was talking about. I think they come from getting the wood too hot, too quickly, causing the internal cells to burst from internally heated air.
I've never got them since using oil. I also set the heat gun on moderate heat, take a little longer to get it to bending heat.

try another session of bending. When cool you could flood the cracks, and scrub with acetone. Fill with superglue

[Vgo750]

Thanks.  It would not surprise me one bit if I heated too quickly when I did them. Hamish, since you have also had these cracks before, have you had success finishing bows out with them?

[Hamish]

Yes all the bows that got those sort of cracks were fine.  Just cosmetic damage.