Help With Set

[Josh Wilson]

I have a 50# @ 28" pull hickory longbow. The limbs have taken a serious set and now it doesn't perform well. I measured it the other day, and the limbs are bent to 4 inhes, and the brace height of the bow is 4 1/2 inches. Im tryin to figure out what I can A ) Do to fix this, and B ) Prevent it from happening again.

Im thinking of trying to figure out how to steam it, and maybe back it with linen or cotton canvas...

What are your thoughts?

[JW_Halverson]

Hey Josh.  Set happens. 

Hickory particularly will take a boatload of set when it is strung and shot in higher humidity.  Fact is, most areas where hickory grows is a poor place to shoot with it.  Now bring that same hickory stave up here to South Dakota, particularly here in the Black Hills and it will make a screaming fast bow that is virtually immune to set, chrysals, or failure. 

Your best bet is to start reading up on heat treating.  Here in the Bows section there are dozens of threads on heat treating.  Type that into the search engine on this board and you will be overwhelmed.  There's great info, but you have your work cut out to go thru all of it!

Post some pics along with the bow statistics, we'd all like to see what we can do to help.

[soy]

Hey Josh.  Set happens. 

Hickory particularly will take a boatload of set when it is strung and shot in higher humidity.  Fact is, most areas where hickory grows is a poor place to shoot with it.  Now bring that same hickory stave up here to South Dakota, particularly here in the Black Hills and it will make a screaming fast bow that is virtually immune to set, chrysals, or failure. 

Your best bet is to start reading up on heat treating.  Here in the Bows section there are dozens of threads on heat treating.  Type that into the search engine on this board and you will be overwhelmed.  There's great info, but you have your work cut out to go thru all of it!

Post some pics along with the bow statistics, we'd all like to see what we can do to help.


Yep...×2

[Del the cat]

The length of the bow would be useful, but then JW pretty much summed it all up.
Del

[George Tsoukalas]

It was probably wet. Hickory likes to be 6-8% for a moisture content. Funny thing...I noticed my bows took less set after I bought a meter. Just enjoy this oen and start another bow. Make sure the wood is dry enough. Jawge

[crooketarrow]

  Once it's there it there. You can improve it w little by sinewing it. But once the wood cells are damaged it's done and there's reverseing it.
  CHALK IT UP TO EXSPERINCE
     MAKE ANOTHER BOW
 When I build hickory bows. To start of you have to have a well seasoned stave. When I get to tillering (bending limbs) I like to but the bow in a hot box for a 10 ,15 min's. before I bend the limbs any. Helps to get rid of realitive humity. Where set comes from if the stave already seasoned.
   Plus with any bow when tillering never go past you intented weight. Never over stress your limbs. Not even as far as useing the knotched tiling stick where you lock the limbs in place to look at it everytime each time. Make a weight pully system.

[Dictionary]

I am having trouble believing a hickory bow cant be made down here in alabama without heat treating it.......

Does this count for winter time as well? What if someone cuts it in summer, peels bark off and attempts to tiller in the winter. Humidity isnt as bad in winter i dont think.

[Tom Leemans]

Yes, we call those learning bows. I would personally experiment with this bow, since there's really not much to lose here. Never know what you might learn!

[Pappy]

We build them all the time in the south,TN. You just have to be more careful to be sure it is dry and stays dry through the process,then after it is finished ,seal it good and try and keep it in a dry place when not in use,just a little more care is all it takes and sadly a lot of folks don't take the extra time to care for a lot of white woods in humid areas as well as they should. Tiller plays a big part also that is for sure but if it is good even set on both limbs moisture is probably the culprit. 
  Pappy

[Josh Wilson]

Thanks guys! I'll look into heat treating it, and see what all I can come up with.

 I bought the bow back in January or February, but did most of my shooting this summer with it. I never would have thought about the summer humidity affecting it that way.

Thanks again for all the suggestions and tips!

[JW_Halverson]

Funny thing...I noticed my bows took less set after I bought a meter.

That must be a fierce meter to scare those staves straight!

[sleek]

I do believe hickory is the ONLY wood i would recommend this with. In the summer, leave it in your car every once in a while, it gets hot enough that it will cook the moisture out and keep the set out. You can add recurves to the tips to recover some of the lost performance in string tension. Just something to think about. I have personally left hickory and elm in my car before with no trouble the day after when  shooting them. If anybody thinks this is a bad idea, they may be right, but just saying my experience.

[Buckeye Guy]

I would like to see you take some pics and then sand or scrap the finish off ,clamp it to a form with 3 inches of reflex, and heat treat it good, and show us what happens
When its done seal it up real good this time and enjoy her !
Have fun !
Guy

[H Rhodes]

I agree with Buckeye Guy and the only thing I would add is, before you do that.  Bring it inside and keep it in an air conditioned room for two or three weeks before you start that.  The humidity will be much lower inside in the climate controlled house than out in a shed.  After you heat treat and reflex it, seal it up good and keep it indoors.  I have made and used hickory bows here in Alabama, and I don't have a bad thing to say about hickory as a bow wood.  You just got to make sure they are dry when you start working them, seal them good when you are finishing them,  and I think they love heat treating.