too short?

[blackhawk]

Dang it   

That does suck.

Lessons learned and keep trying

[Catnapper]

Yes mullet that was the same limb that broke the first time. I coated the limb with crisco grease before heating it but it did darken the wood quite a bit after heating.  I'm sort of confused on the whole heat thing. When guys heat treat their bows doesn't it improve the bow? Do they rehydrate the wood afterwards? I made sure I didn't scorch the limb while heating also.  Also after seeing the pictures of the HHB bow I definitely had to much wood on the handle. Lessons learned for the next bow though and I'm sure it won't be the last failure! LOL. I have that much more respect for u fellas that turn out fine bows regularly.

[mullet]

Heating a bow with a heat gun is really running a fine line of burning the wood and bending. You have to get a feel for it, watching the wood sweat, getting glossy when the resin starts to come to the surface, and not smelling burn't wood instead of popcorn cooking. You need to bend a few pieces and get a feel for it. Sometines it takes a few bendings between cool down sessions to get what you want. And sometimes you just can't do it without destroying a piece of wood. And yes, rehydrate before bending.

 Heat treating instead of bending is a whole different story and when I do this I'm trying to burn it but not deep but even. you have to know when to move the gun, again, by experiance.

I hate to see your bow broke but I have no doubt you will have a fine one soon with this attitude. Everytime you break one there is a reason and one more step in the learning curve.

[George Tsoukalas]

That bow is a beauty, Mullet. Very nicely done. Cat, I am sorry your bow broke. Making an under built bow requires an exceptional piece of wood and exceptional skills of which I do not possess and I'd wager most first timers don't either. Stick with the tried and true formula of doubling your draw and adding a least 10 inches until you become exceptionally skilled like Eddie. You know what Ole Jawge says, "If you ain't breakin' you ain't makin'!"  That's how you learn. Get another stave and have at it. Jawge

[fusizoli]

Missed this topic...

But never too late to give my 2 cents opinion

As I see U have a too strong inner limb and a too much working flipped tip. If that reflex working too much, plus overdry it with heat, that indicate a blow for shure.

Wait after a few days or a week after heat treat. And draw it step by step with more atantion and care on the tiller.

I have a sinew backed yew RD hunting bow with the same size 48. It have static recurve so could draw it 23, max 24 but not matters.
55# at 23
found just this old pic, pulled to 20 

[criveraville]

Mullet, thats one nice bow!!! wow!!

[johnston]

Well damn keith, I was really enjoying this thread and you just had to ruin it
Sorry man, you had it going on for a while. The guys on this site are real good ain't they ?Where else are we gonna get step by step tutelage of this quality for free?
Start the next one, good things ahead.

zoltan, eddie,sweet looking bows!

Lane

[Catnapper]

I have another osage stave on the way that I'm sure I will need plenty of help with  (snakey osage) ..... And yes the guys on here are a gold mine of knowledge! From the looks of the pics they have posted on this thread they put that knowledge to good use too. Those are some sweet looking bows. If (when) I happen to break another longer bow ill give the shorty a try again. I would rather use the broken ones for practice instead of throwing them in the fire, and maybe one of these days ill salvage one into a short shooter. The snakey osage I bought last night looks like a neat stave but it was cut recently so it will need to season for a bit. I'm gonna take it slow on it though and get the advice before I get ahead of myself LOL.

[mullet]

George, Cipriani, and Lane, thank you it was an exceptional piece of wood.