Inducing Reflex into and Osage Stave

[Et_tu_brute]

Hi Gents,

Well I've got a roughed out Osage stave that I'm ready to start tillering, it's 67" long and about 1.5" wide, I've got not weight goal in mind, but probably something around the 45# mark. I've never tried reflexing before, and it's something I want to do with this stave. I'm not after anything spectacular, just a few inches of reflex distributed evenly through the stave. What would be the best method to go about doing this? The bow will bend through the handle, not sure if that'll make any difference but just thought I'd mention.

Thanks in advance
Dave

[artcher1]

What's your draw length Dave? ART

[Et_tu_brute]

Hi Art, I draw approx 27.5". Cheers, Dave.

[artcher1]

That 1 1/2" width is probably going to be to wide for that length and draw weight IMO. With the bend-in-handle design you may want to go shorter in length. To help make your bow  more "shooter friendly", try reflexing your limbs from about mid-limb out.

Cutting you out a form (form should be narrower than your limbs) to the desired setback profile and heat bending is probably the easiest way to achieve what you want. Just give your form a little extra setback to allow for a little reflex you going to lose when you release your clamps. Now is good time to add the reflex since you at the floor tillering stage. Good luck. ART

[Et_tu_brute]

Thanks Art, I'll bring the width in to around 1 1/4". Looks like a trip to the woodyard is in order to get some material for a form! Would you use dry heat or steam for the reflex?

[artcher1]

For mild reflexing you can use a heat gun. And for what you're after, that may be the way to go. For more severe bending you will need to steam. And then to make your bend stronger with less chance of losing any bend, set with dry heat after it drys out good from the steam job.

What's your tip thickness as of now? ART

[Et_tu_brute]

At the moment the tips are around 1/2-5/8" thick.

[artcher1]

You're in good shape then.

A word of caution when you start reflexing on a form. Any humps, or bumps in the area to be reflexed, will cause your limb to cant, throwing you limb out of alignment. Just remove a little wood from your form in these areas so that the limb's back presses flat against the form. ART

[Et_tu_brute]

Many thanks for the advice Art

[sulphur]

this is how i do it.  slowly heat the limb and clamp a little at a time until your at the end.  I used one of my longbows that i consider well tillered as an outline for the form.  then lots of holes drilled with a 1" forstner bit every 1.5 - 2".  works great.

[artcher1]

I've used the holes in the forms for clamping myself and they just work fine. But if you don't won't to use that method you can simple place the clamp over the limb and clamp directly the the form. Just leave enough room to get a wedge under the clamp to hammer/tighten things down. Quick, simple and perhaps more efficient. ART

[Kirkll]

this is how i do it.  slowly heat the limb and clamp a little at a time until your at the end.  I used one of my longbows that i consider well tillered as an outline for the form.  then lots of holes drilled with a 1" forstner bit every 1.5 - 2".  works great.

hey sulpher, could a guy just pop that stave in a bow oven on low for awhile before clamping it up? or do you want to localize the heat just where you are bending.

 another question would be how far past your desired net reflex do you go on osage? i figure the string follow would depend on the poundage you were going after and the wood grain in the stave. is that correct?

[sulphur]

kirk, good question!!  i do preheat mine but you have to careful of trying it out too much.  i use my grille and some cooking oil coating on the stave. it warm the whole limb for about 7-8 min.  the i clamp it to the form and localize the heat to the part i am clamping with my heat gun.  the ends will be mostly cooled by the time you get the heat gun to them but i have found this way works well for me.  spring back is variable but about half the reflex you heat in will come out if you tiller correctly.  be sure and let the stave re=hydrate for a few days (it varies by climate).  truthfully you can do the whole job by localizing the heat to each section as you clamp it down. takes about 20-30 min for each limb that way.  also you can take out most twist and small sideways turns at the same time.  just use small blocks to center the stave.  also kirk don't forget to pad you c clamps with small pieces of wood.  i use small squares with 1" hole drilled in them.