Heat Bending

[scp]

According to http://koti.kapsi.fi/hvartial/bend/bend.htm

The excellent Forest Products Laboratory "Wood Handbook" states in Chapter 19 (in many more words):
    * Wood becomes plastic around 170 degrees C / 338 degrees F.
    * Above this temperature wood can be formed, and the new shape remains after cooling.
    * Plastic wood can be compressed by up to 25-30 % but stretched by only 1-2 %. (This is why heating the inside of the curve is most important.)
    * Applying moisture to wood lowers the plasticizing temperature below water boiling point. (This is why steam bending works.)

Recently I have been flipping the tips in the way described by "lostarrow" but using a water spray bottle and some rubber bands. It works. But as for making recurves, I find it much easier to steam or boil bend a short piece of wood and cut it into two siyahs and v-splice them into the bow.

[lostarrow]

Hey  Darksoul , try it you'll be surprised  . The wood quickly gets so hot that the water evaporates as quick as you put it on . I'm not drenching the wood just give it a quick wipe . I believe this is just cooling the very surface and keeping it from cooking. I  don't use veggie oil because it can turn rancid  and /or  affect the finish that may be applied afterwards. I've been using this technique for years on furniture and cabinets and just shuffled it over to bows. I'll try to get some pics up on a separate thread so as not to hijack this one.