Starting another one...

[Gaust]

This bending is scary stuff.  Clamped it down on my caul near mid-limb first to make sure it was straight, then at the beginning of the bend.  I continually dabbed the area I was bending with water as I used my heat gun and slowly tightened up each clamp as I went.  Kept thinking about Ed Scott as I was doing it.  Don't know why his video kept popping up in my head.  It took about fifteen minutes to get it to final bend completely.  Whew, that's one tip.  My first bend.
George

[PEARL DRUMS]

Easy as that George, and more stable than steam in my opinion.

[Gaust]

Yeah, the was easier than I thought, Chris.  It does help to have a longer bending caul to keep things aligned.
George

[Gaust]

Well, I pulled it off the caul after doing the other end and some cracks appeared under the clamps in two spots on that limb.  Is that fatal?  Or can I sand those down?  I have plenty of thickness there.
George

[PEARL DRUMS]

Work them away George. Its very, very common for that to happen. Folks seem to think a thin metal band can keep the wood from stretching? Never caught unto that. A strap MIGHT keep a steamed sliver from popping, but it certainly cant help a tension tear.

[Gaust]

Thanks, Chris.  We'll try to work it out.  Looked at it again in the sunlight and found that one crack is deeper than the other, at least the depth of one growth ring.  I'll have some thickness left but it may not be static after I get through with it. 
George

[PEARL DRUMS]

Fill them with glue and leave them if you are concerned. Ive done that to. Never had an issue.

[Gaust]

I've worked them out and my limbs at the curbs will be about 3/8" thick right before the tips.  I left the ends a little thick because I'll work an overlay on them before I narrow them down.  I was going to narrow the outer third of limbs anyway to see what I can get away with.  I know now that they will probably lose a little bend as I do final tillering and shoot it out, but that's okay.  I'm learning on this one.
George

[George Tsoukalas]

So much progress! Such a neat workshop! Jawge

[Gaust]

Here's another progress pic.  Haven't looked at the tiller yet.  Trying to decide whether to do overlays first.  One curved a little more than the other as can you see.  That may end up as my lower limb.
George

[Pappy]

Looking good so far.
   Pappy

[PEARL DRUMS]

Looking good. For what its worth,  here is how I approach it from this point. Ill floor tiller it until its perfect and about 15-20# heavy. Then add the tip overlays and fully shape them. Brace the bow just above the handle and tiller it out to 16-18". Increase the brace to about 4" and check the tiller out to 16-18" again, if all is well keep reducing and drawing it back farther until its perfect at 2-3" short of my intended draw length. One I get to that point I full brace it at 5.5-6" and check the tiller one more time out to 20" or so. If all is well I pull it back to my full draw several times and shoot it several more times. Then check it again. I get very little set doing it this way and the limbs seem to have more "life" to them.

[Gaust]

Thanks, Pappy.  Chris, a good plan follow.  I've floor tillered it and it's still a little heavy.  Overlays next.
George

[Gaust]

Re-checked the alignment and found a slight twist on the bottom limb.  The twist was mid-limb so it wasn't too hard to clamp it down using some shims and heat it up again.  This poor piece of wood has taken a lot abuse, that's for sure.  The alignment looks a lot better now, but we'll see how long it lasts.  Decided to do padauk overlays (because I like the reddish contrast with the hackberry) first before I start the tillering process again.  I've left plenty of overlay wood for final reduction, rounding of the tips, and cutting the nocks.   Jury is still out on padauk as overlay material, in my opinion.

George

[Gaust]

Nocks done.
G.