I see what your saying on the heat bending now. Yeah that would be the time to do it and I would guess that most folks would do just that. That stave would have been pretty easy to straighten out if he would of so desired. But he took the challenge and did it the hard way. I can respect that.
. As far as the other point goes, I believe that you are overthinking it a bit. I don't think that I can come up with the words to explain it either, but I'll try. First thing you have to do with a stave like this is banish any visual symmetry from your mind. If you don't start with symmetry, at no point of the draw should it appear symmetrical. The goal is equal proportions of bend throughout the limb and a balance between the limbs. If you were to make a mark every two inches down both limbs, set it up on the tree unbraced and make corresponding marks on the wall behind each point as a starting reference. Now brace it, put it back in the same place, make new reference marks on the wall for brace. Do the same thing every few inches of draw to full draw. Now take down the bow and measure the marks throughout the draw and compare the corresponding marks on each limb for distance traveled. The tips should have moved the same distance. Midlimb of each limb should have moved the same distance as the other at the same point of draw and so on and so forth. I'm not saying to actually do this, just try and visualize each corresponding section of the limb bending the same distance as the same section on the other limb. Regardless of how asymmetrical the bend appears, if it is only doing the portion of bending that its supposed to be doing, it is under no more strain than its supposed to be. I think that I just confused myself actually. Short and sweet summation, even though it looks like a hinge, it is not. It is only bending as much as its supposed to. Man, I got a headache now! Josh
