heat treating?

[jturkey]

ok i was wonder will heat treating the belly of an osage bow do any good i heard it is not very effective on denser woods? if i did heat treat the wood what kins of performace could i expect? i know not lot but would it be worth my time?

[Pat B]

Doc, I've been pleased with the limited osage toasting I've done. I think there is a positive effect when used.   How much? I have only how it feels to me for comparison so how much performance is hard to judge. I like the method enough to keep using it.  As of yet, I haven't toasted a bow as much as Marc St Louis does. I'm working my way up that way but slowly. I don't think osage needs as much toasting as the whitewoods do but a little werks well for me. You can incorperate it into your straightening and bending sessions.

[jturkey]

thanks patb that is what i was going to do and see if i could get it to give me alittle bit of reflex in the limbs not alot just a little.

[Parnell]

I'd agree with PatB on that for sure.  I've toasted the HECK out of white woods with very good results.  I'd say it's good for the couple Osage I've done, but not as extreme and what I gave it was only the heat for the straightening process or heat treating in reflex.  I didn't "brown but not char" the osage, just gave it a little more deep gold.

[jturkey]

thanks parnell i am going to work on it tonight if i can find my camera i'll take pic might try to put just a little reflex in the limbs to while doing it.

[jturkey]

well i am going to mark that up to a possible bad piece of wood or a bad spot in the wood while i was heating the first 6 inches of the tip  to start recurving the tips just a little  had the tip clamped into a jig withthe rest of the bow aimed toward venus . the limb suddenly fell flat and the limb broke at 5 inches from the tip i had no other weight on it just the weight of the bow itself the angle was not great by what i see mosr guys using just a slight curve but it broke not all the way through but enough i wouldn't want to even try stringit the crack is all the way acroos the limb and goes deep into the limb so to same any of the bow i am going to have to cut off 5" on both sides and tiller it down to akids bow. i do not hink it will be able to draw long enough for me or my dad now. so my sons gets his very own osage bow

[Del the cat]

, just gave it a little more deep gold.

you sound like one of those hair colour ads on TV...
Add a little more deep gold to your bow , because she's worth it .
Del

[Marc St Louis]

Both Osage and Black Locust seem to brown faster than white-woods.  I've also had some very odd things happen when heat-treating Osage, odd as in unpleasant.