Dry Heat vs Steam:

[Comancheria]

Folks,

At long last, I am getting ready to start my first bow.  It will be from a red oak 1X2 (3/4X1 1/2) board--a pyramid with either a glued on handle or (more likely) a bendy handle, 70 inches long.  I am aiming at 50 pounds or under.  not sure whether I will sinew back it or not yet.  The board is quarter-sawn with really straight grain--along all four sides. But it must have some run-off because I count about four fewer rings on one end than on the other.

Problem is, while I have been reading everything I can get my hands on, picking y'all's brains, and just generally scratching my butt, the board has warped about a quarter of an inch.  Specifically, if you sight down the wide side of the board, you see the bend.  I figure I need to use every bit of the 1.5 inch width for durability, so it looks like I am going to have to bend it.

So a few questions re steam versus dry heat.  I realize there are some situations where steam is just plain superior.  But:

Can I get away with clamping the bend out of it on my workbench, then heating it thoroughly with one of those 1500 watt Russian hair dryers, then cooling it off without removing the clamps?

And while I have your attention, I have been reading Torges's book on the Osage Bow and he routinely steam bends a reflex of 1-3 inches into his staves--rigjt off the bat.  If It ends up that SWMBO decrees we don't have room for a steam box or even a drying box, can I, as an alternative to bitter divorce proceedings, build in a reflex, when I gain more experience, using the same heat gun?

Put another way, how many of you get by with never using steam?

Best regards,

Russ

[punch]

First off you probably do not have to back the bow.  All of the board bows I build are unbacked.  I would use the warped side as the back of the bow a 1/4" isn't anything and will help keep your set low.  I would glue on a piece and go with a stiff handle those are a little easier to make than a bendy handle.   If you post a photo people will be able to help you out more.  I would keep this as simple of a bow as possible since it is your first.

[bushboy]

I think you can get away with dry heat unless you are trying some extreme static recurve. Check out Marc st Louis localized steam method for gentle curves .steam for wet wood,dry for seasoned.

[Comancheria]

Thanks, Punch.  Actually, though the board is warped the other way.  Instead of bending so that either the belly or the back is reflexed, and the other, deflexed, if you look at say, the belly, OR the back, either one, you can see the curve.

Russ

[scp]

For the first bow, I would keep it simple and don't bother with dry heat or steam. Just keep it as straight as possible. Leave the center 12 inch as it is and straight taper limbs to tips of 3/8" by 3/8". Then you can start floor tillering.

[Comancheria]

Thanks, bushboy.

SCP: my fear is that if I make the bow, near the handle, the full width of the board, then one of the sides may be affected as I draw in the taper.  I think I need t draw the shape onto the back and see.

I still am interested in who uses dry heat only--especially to build I'm a little reflex on Osage.

Russ

[GB]

Dry heat works beautifully on Osage, even for a heat bending novice like me.  Pretty easy to flip the tips or straighten twist with a heat gun on Osage.  It's a good idea to practice on a scrap piece or two if you've never done it before, though.  It takes a little experimenting to figure out how long to heat the wood before bending and how far to keep the gun from the wood.  Or at least it did for me.

[bubby]

so what you are saying is it bends side to side and not front to back, clamp it to a table with the bend up and the center of the bend about a foot off the table, if you have an electric floor heater get it on a stool or something so it's the height of the board, about 4" away, hang a weight out on the end, bucket of rock, water whatever , enough weight to make it bend a little measure the tip to the floor and keep checking it till it moves a little past the amount you want it to move, then turn the heat off and leave it till the next day

[George Tsoukalas]

I am more concerned about the run outs. Can you post a photo?
There's info on my site.
Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/index.html

[Comancheria]

Thanks for the info, GB.

Bubby: Gotcha!  That is a much clearer way to describe the warpage.

George: I am struggling to do a lot of things, limited to a smart phone as my sole computer.  I will try to get some photos on, using Photobucket or something similar.  Thanks for your help.

Russ

[Comancheria]

Here is one end:
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[Comancheria]

Ok--failure!  I will work on it, but may have to wait until
I get a new laptop!

[Comancheria]

Well, I had enough room to draw a six inch handle on the bow, with 1 inch curvature on each side, then connecting the edges of the handle to the edges of the 1/2 inch tips.  The bow was skewed way over to one side, but there was enough room on the board.  So I won't need to bend it.

George: I REALLY appreciate your being willing to assess the grain.  I signed up for Photobucket and was able to take and upload some fairly representative photos.  But try as I might, I could not manage to select, copy, and paste the URLs into the post--using this miserable phone.  My thanks.

I am very pleased to hear that I might be able to get away--at least for a time--without setting up for steam or artificial drying.

Russ