Waiting after tempering, how long?

[blackhawk]

I'm just gonna say it and defend my stance because me and plenty others have proven this time n time again hundreds of times....as long as your wood isn't already at 6% and you don't blacken it you should be more than aok to take it off the form after its cooled and start working on it again....and john your just north of me and pretty much have the same climate conditions as me...you should be fine to start working it now...so either take that dowel and string off(cus leaving it ain't gonna do anymore good)or leave it on and throw some sinew on that 

[Del the cat]

I took an old Hickory English longbow with a load of set and heat treated it to slight reflex just to see what would happen. Got to work on it re-tillering it the next day no prob'.
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/big-bow-detail-and-hickory-challenge.html
But for preference I'd give it a couple of days if it was a precious stave... ah precioussssss
Del

[blackhawk]

Its as simple as this folks.....know the moisture content of your wood...as bowyers we should know the mc of a stave before bending it...so if you know(which you should anyways)then you'll know if you need to wait or not......I weigh all my staves/bows before and after I temper them....the most weight I've lost and the average is only losing a tenth of an ounce(n sometimes nothing)....I know that's not even a half percentage point...so as long as your wood is already above safe levels and in the safe zone your more than fine to start bending it again asap off the form once cooled(which usually takes an hour on average)

[NeolithicMan]

I dont know MC or weight of my bows, because I do not own a meter or a scale. I dont even usually measure them with a tape measure until done. I like rough measurements with a string and my fingers best. I dont think its bad to use these things I am just not as concerned with exact measurements or pushing every last once I can out of the wood. Eventually I may buy more things and be meticulous about all the details but for now I like the "wing it" approach. I know some of you guys are cringing thinking about some kid swinging a hatchet at almost random pencil lines drawn quickly on a half seasoned stave until a bow looking chunk falls out of it but thats what has worked so far and my broke @$$ is to cheap to put more than elbow grease into archery right now. maybe this x-mas season Ill get lucky from a family member! 

[blackhawk]

You dont need a moisture meter(there useless IMO) in bow building to know the mc of your staves,or a scale to weigh them...all you need to know is the temperature and relative humidity in where your wood stored...and that only will cost you 5-10$ to know,and something you should have where you store your wood regardless of how simple and cheap of a bow builder you wanna be...you really need to know the Mc of your wood for many reasons. <------- that's a big period

[artcher1]

Can't count how many times I've yanked em(various woods used) off a form an hour later or less and immediately went to finish tillering n shooting etc....n I've seen plenty of yins others guys(won't say names cough cough) do the same with no I'll results....  ....heck its hickory....once its cool take it off the form and start bending that beech 

I'm just gonna say it and defend my stance because me and plenty others have proven this time n time again hundreds of times....as long as your wood isn't already at 6% and you don't blacken it you should be more than aok to take it off the form after its cooled and start working on it again....and john your just north of me and pretty much have the same climate conditions as me...you should be fine to start working it now...so either take that dowel and string off(cus leaving it ain't gonna do anymore good)or leave it on and throw some sinew on that 

Its as simple as this folks.....know the moisture content of your wood...as bowyers we should know the mc of a stave before bending it...so if you know(which you should anyways)then you'll know if you need to wait or not......I weigh all my staves/bows before and after I temper them....the most weight I've lost and the average is only losing a tenth of an ounce(n sometimes nothing)....I know that's not even a half percentage point...so as long as your wood is already above safe levels and in the safe zone your more than fine to start bending it again asap off the form once cooled(which usually takes an hour on average)

You dont need a moisture meter(there useless IMO) in bow building to know the mc of your staves,or a scale to weigh them...all you need to know is the temperature and relative humidity in where your wood stored...and that only will cost you 5-10$ to know,and something you should have where you store your wood regardless of how simple and cheap of a bow builder you wanna be...you really need to know the Mc of your wood for many reasons. <------- that's a big period

Do you feel like your talking to the hand Chris.

[blackhawk]

Yes I do Art....or maybe a wall 

[Gordon]

When I temper a belly, I let the bow sit overnight and resume tillering as early as the next morning. I've never had one blow on me yet.

[Marc St Louis]

Can't count how many times I've yanked em(various woods used) off a form an hour later or less and immediately went to finish tillering n shooting etc....n I've seen plenty of yins others guys(won't say names cough cough) do the same with no I'll results....  ....heck its hickory....once its cool take it off the form and start bending that beech 

I popped a back ring on the first Elm I ever heat-treated when I started this whole heat-treating thing back in the early 2000's by doing just that.  Now I wait

[blackhawk]

Can't count how many times I've yanked em(various woods used) off a form an hour later or less and immediately went to finish tillering n shooting etc....n I've seen plenty of yins others guys(won't say names cough cough) do the same with no I'll results....  ....heck its hickory....once its cool take it off the form and start bending that beech 

I popped a back ring on the first Elm I ever heat-treated when I started this whole heat-treating thing back in the early 2000's by doing just that.  Now I wait

What was the mc of the wood before you tempered it? Did you weigh it before and after? Did you blacken the belly? Was it over cooked and caused the back to become brittle? Heck Marc..it was your first time...it could have been other reasons than blaming mc loss... I've just seen way too many bows made with wood at 8-10% mc tempered and finish tilllered before it was 24 hours from being tempered....like I said I weigh all mine before and after tempering and a tenth of an ounce lost at the most means very little actual mc drops in the wood...the numbers don't lie(to me at least)

[IdahoMatt]

How do you really feel Hawkster?

[blackhawk]

Just discussing my fact based findings matt in a friendly way with my fellow brethren 

[DarkSoul]

I've once measured a 75% moisture regain after about 16 hours of waiting (basically overnight). I therefore recommend two days.

[Marc St Louis]

Can't count how many times I've yanked em(various woods used) off a form an hour later or less and immediately went to finish tillering n shooting etc....n I've seen plenty of yins others guys(won't say names cough cough) do the same with no I'll results....  ....heck its hickory....once its cool take it off the form and start bending that beech 

I popped a back ring on the first Elm I ever heat-treated when I started this whole heat-treating thing back in the early 2000's by doing just that.  Now I wait

What was the mc of the wood before you tempered it? Did you weigh it before and after? Did you blacken the belly? Was it over cooked and caused the back to become brittle? Heck Marc..it was your first time...it could have been other reasons than blaming mc loss... I've just seen way too many bows made with wood at 8-10% mc tempered and finish tilllered before it was 24 hours from being tempered....like I said I weigh all mine before and after tempering and a tenth of an ounce lost at the most means very little actual mc drops in the wood...the numbers don't lie(to me at least)

I think it was a year or 2 after I wrote that first article one of the members, I believe it was Lennie (Tom Sawyer), did some tests on moisture loss after tempering.  His tests indicated that the actual amount of moisture lost from the process was miniscule and not worth considering, he was using seasoned, dry wood but I don't remember which type.  The bulk of the moisture loss is on the outer surfaces.  Back then I didn't measure the MC of wood, still don't, I just monitor(ed) the RH of my environment. 

Overcooked??? Really???  Could have been, might have been....naah I don't think so.  The Elm was high quality Elm with decent growth rings plus I had no trouble with the other staves from the same tree.  I'm not saying that you will pop a back ring every time but all it takes is once to ruin your day.

[Don Case]

 You popped a back ring from cooking the belly?  Am I missing something? How does that happen?
Don