steaming

[chessieboy]

I steamed an osage stave for the first time today. It's a roughed out bow. My question is when you guys steam do you crank the heat up or enough just to get steam? I got some minor correction but it'll have to be done again and I was just wondering.

[kayakfisher]

I place the limbs over the pot cover with aluminum foil let steam for awhile depending on thickness of limbs
                   Dennis

[El Destructo]

is this green wood ....or already dried Stave??? You should not Steam a Dried Stave....dry Heat for Dry Wood....Steam for Green and semi fresh wood....

[chessieboy]

The sage is dry.  I tried to steam the stave before I roughed it out because I wasn't sure I could get the whole stave hot enough throughout without scorching it. Now that I have it roughed out I think I will try dry heat in the AM.  Now a new question. I have it in a make shift jig should I heat it while pressure is being applied and keep adding more pressure or should I heat it throughout and then try bending it?

I also have a piece of sass that I dried in a heat box. Its been in there for a while and is good and dry now. Should I also try dry heat with it as well? This one only needs a limb straightened.

[El Destructo]

what are you trying to do to the Osage Stave??? Recurve it...straighten out waves and bends?? What??

The rule is Dry Heat for Dry Wood....Steam for all else

[chessieboy]

When holding the sage verticle and looking at the back or belly it has a C shape. So obviously the string doesn't track down the center. I'm trying to get the limbs lined up.

[El Destructo]

Clamp it good before the bend that you want to straighten....heat it to the point that you can bearely hold on to it(make sure that you oil it to keep it from scorching and cracking) then apply pressure to straighten the bend out....and hold it till it cools....done!! Move on to the next problem spot.....

[Pat B]

Get your stave to floor tiller stage then heat and straighten it. Works a lot easier then.    Also, be careful using dry heat now since you added moisture to the stave when you steamed it.  Pat

[El Destructo]

Yeah....what Pat said...I forgot that part....the closer to tiller you can get it....the less wood there will be to bend....the less the chances of anything bad happening to it....and it is a Lot easier to bend....I would let the Stave readjust again before I tried to bend it now that it has been steamed....

[GregB]

If you're using a form, clamp the bow at the handle and work your way from fades out to the tips using dry heat. Like already mentioned, heat one area 6-8" and then clamp it (using shims) and move on to the next area. You can remove deflex, propellor, and add reflex all at the same time using a form with dry heat.

Like Pat said, having it floor tillered helps the tweaking process because of less wood to heat. I usually only use oil on the belly and edges of the limbs and leave it off the back. Just cuts down later on the sandpaper clogging up with the oil when finishing. Sometimes I don't even use oil with osage since it has natural oils in it...just have to keep an eye on the wood when heating it. Almost always use oil on white woods though.

[chessieboy]

Grrrr Got the first bend in the sass stave straightened out and my heat gun blew up. Darn thing was a cheapy from harbor freight. Just to top it off the limb I bent I slightly over corrected. The sass does bend alot easier than sage I've tried before though.

[El Destructo]

Go buy you a good one from Sears or Home Depot....Harbor Freight is all Sucky Crap...I buy Clamps....Staples and Sand Paper there....thats about it!!

[woodenwonder]

I was wondering the same thing too. I steamed a hickory limb for about 2 1/2 hours last week and clamped it over night. It didn't bend a bit. The limb it about 1 1/2" wide and about 3/8" thick. What gives?
Gary

[El Destructo]

Sometimes Hickory is a Biotch to bend....but 2 1/2 hours should have been enoughdid you get it clamped off fast enough??? I mean like in ten seconds or less??? Has to be way fast...or it will cool down....did it crack any?? If not give it a rest...and try it again....

[woodenwonder]

I don't know about 10 sec. but I had my forms all set up and clamps ready. Maybe I got it clamped down in less than one minute. I woods looking real dry and the bows in final tiller, so I just keep it with a little crook. If I could figure out how to add pictures, I post a pic of the bend.