Help W/ Russian Olive bow

[HighEagle]

I was shooting this R.Olive bow 64 1/2"ntn the other day. I was aiming for 40lbs at 28 . When I finished sanding out all my tool marks and the amount of set it took (5") it came in at 36lbs.  Was super fun shooting but I couldn't stand all that set. So I put the heat gun to it and this is what I ended up with this morning. Really cool color, the back is a real light yellow/green and the belly wood is a rich tobacco with a tinge of yellow, stripped with dark brown early growth rings.

Question , Now that I have taken the set out can I aim for a higher weight say 45lbs or a bit more? and would it help to heat treat the belly? and maybe flip the tips. Might be good sinew back??

I also made out of the same Olive stave a 52"ntn flat slat bow. I don't know what you call this type of bow , its 30# at 28" bend in the handle flipped the the tips slightly The Russian Olive seems to take the heat good was so easy to work some stiff  flat spots where the knots are but now I can work on them a little more.  I diffidently will be making more Olive bows if this one holds up the trees around here grow like weeds.

Thanks for looking, Chuck

 

[Justin Snyder]

How long ago did you cut the stave. It looks plenty long and wide, so 5" is a lot of set for a dry wood to take. I suspect it wasn't completely dry.

It is hard to fix a bow once it has taken that much set, but I recommend that you try just for the experience and what you will learn about the wood while you do it.

[HighEagle]

My friend said he had cut this about a year ago, may be a bit more.

Chuck

[Justin Snyder]

Was it split right when it was cut or was it left as a full log. A year isn't a long time.

[bcbull]

chuck  iv made lot s of r olive bow s it grows in my back yard next time rough ur bow out  then clamp it down stick it in the hot box for a month iv found the best bows from if come from the heart wood i do not leave the sap on it  dang stuff splits    if was me  id strip the finish clamp it down put it in a hot box or a car with the windows up for a couple weeks  then flip the tips ull probly get what u lost BACK if not sinew it  but losein 5 pounds sanding is about normal w any wood  if u sand it a lot  it relley looks nice  as iv said befor it finishes nicer than any wood iv worked i like it but like justin said  probly waSNT DRY  BETTR LUCK NEXT TIME  IV BEEN AGEIN MY OLIVE STAVE S 2 YEARS  NOW  BROCK  p s sorry my dang puter is goin haywire tonite 

[Pat B]

It sure is beautiful wood. I've seen Russian olive bows here on PA I think but don't know much about it personally.
 Once a bow has taken that much set the damage is done and it's life is limited. Set happens!.. because we are using a natural material that has limits. The amount of set depends on us(in most cases). We decide the wood is dry enough...we decide that's not too much to pull at this phase of tillering...we decide we'll continue even though our head is not in it...we decide!   Learn why this stave took so much set and put that knowledge towards your next bow.

[HighEagle]

Thanks all for the comments , it was full with bark on and the ends were never sealed only about 4 1/2" round. It did cross my mind during the shaping and tiller it seemed a little green. so do I re-tiller ? let it dry longer as is? or is it a goner, cable back maybe just saw a post earlier about cabling

Thanks again, Chuck

[bcbull]

chuck id chalk that one up as a learning experince  make another u might wanna get ur selfa moisture meter  that way u  know and when i dry these i do them like osage i debark em take the sap off and seal the back and end s with poly  they should be ready  in a year year half  but  if u get a meter u can check  iv never heat treated one yt but that on my to do list  i like workin with it  brock

[HighEagle]

Thanks Brock, do you happen to have any pix of your Olive bows like to see them?.. Thanks Chuck

[PEARL DRUMS]

You could try to set back the handle in the fade area with a bunch of heat. I have done it in the past and it "stuck". That area doesnt move much at all so the heta bend I made to it stayed put and added 6-8#'s to the bow and it now has about 3/4" relfex rather than 2" of follow. I heated the fades up on the low setting from 10" away and let it sit on that spot for all of 12-15 minutes, them clamped it down. The bow took on a gull wing shape and a gained a ton of performance.

[Lee Slikkers]

Wow, that is some seriously gorgeous wood!  I think/thought we have a lot of the invasive Russian Olive here in MI but everything I've seen is way more "shrubby" and I've never seen anything close to the diameter of what you appear to have...

I have a sapling stave of what I had thought was the Russian Olive in the basement and ran down to check it out last night as I didn't recall it having such sexy heartwood and sure enough, mine doesn't so now I am starting to question if it is really Russian Olive.  I also don't recall seeing any thorns on our or olives/fruit for that matter.  Wonder what I really have now 

[Buckeye Guy]

Personly if I had a stave that was not dry when I tillered it out I would not consider the set to be actual set but just bent wood ! So if that is the case I would heat it into reflex and make sure it is dry before I continued to re-tiller it ! cause wood that is bent is not necessarily set ,just bent wood ! Have fun!!
Guy

[HighEagle]

Thanks Buckeye, 
 Good info. I'm not going to give up on it yet. Thanks again,
  Chuck

[HighEagle]

UpDate,

  Added the heat to the handle and fades Like PD suggested and ended up with 2" top limb and  2 1/2" reflex on the bottom
 




Only heated did not blacken the belly should I? or is it good now? The back looks good no checks. how long should I wait till I re-tiller

 Thanks for Looking, Chuck

[Pat B]

When I use heat for bending or straightening I use oil so I don't scorch the wood. When I temper(heat treat) wood I don't use oil and get the wood a nice chocolate brown color. Two different processes, two different results!