selfbow questions

[Pappy]

I have had bad luck recurving the tips on White wood with dry heat,I would boil or steam.
Not to say it can't be done successfully but I haven't had any luck at it.It always flakes up on the belly ,Bad.Haven't tried Ash my experience has been with Hickory.
   Pappy
 

[Justin Snyder]

If it is a 71" bow, I would leave it that long.  The extra couple of inches will make it a lot more forgiving.  I like steam to do the tips and dry heat for the limb reflex. Take the tiller nice and slow.  If you get any resemblance of a hinge in that limb that runs out. At 29" it could blow really easy.  I had a guava with run out grain like that.  I silk backed it, and it still blew on the grain run out. It showed no sign of a hinge, but 29" puts a lot of pressure on any piece of wood. Justin

[DanaM]

Frank this is a white ash board 1/2" thick that I used dry heat on. Not an extreme recurve but it went
I didn't think it was going to work but it eventually got hot enough and they bent, go real slow if you try it.
I reflex ash on the caul always now helps reduce the set and make sure the wood is dry, damp ash takes lots of set.

Good luck

Dana

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[medicinewheel]

again: thanks everybody for the great help!

i will tiller the bow slowly anyway, because i always had the best results doing so. i started roughing out the bow with handtools today and figured it's certainly not the best piece of wood. but hey...
i shortend each limb ('piked' that is i learned just recently  ) by half an inch just to get a clear cut at the ends. i also will not go for 29" draw, 27", maybe 28". it's a learning project.

yes dana, that's the sort of recurve i meant. and i'll use steam for bending.

i'll keep you guys posted.

frank

[medicinewheel]

it's going to be the first flat-bellied bow .... well: life is for learning, right?!

hey guys!  -  i worked on the fadeouts a bit and found that i did not really know what they are supposed to be shaped like, how long they should be and what's a good way and good tools to do the job.

any recommendations here???

frank

ps: the thickness at the fadeout is by far not even yet. that's why the grain looks weird

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[Justin Snyder]

Leave them just like that until you start to tiller.  You can thin them down to make the fades bend more when you are tillering. Justin