Heat tempering boards?

[Kegan]

Is it beneficial to heat temper a little reflex in or not worth ithe trouble?

[koan]

Kegan, I heat treated an ash board bow recently and it didnt help noticebly with the string follow but it did increase draw weight by about 4# and it helped the cast alot...Brian

[Pat B]

I've just started heat treating bellies so take for what it is worth...on white woods like hickory, elm, ash and maple heat treating will benefit the compression qualities of the wood. I think heat treating at floor tiller time and before you add set from bending you will get the best benefits. After the cells have collapsed its almost too late. The damage is done.   Pat

[JackCrafty]

IMO, the wood that responds best to heat treatment is hickory.  I've tried it on elm and ash and didn't see too much change.  Overall, I think it's worth it if you're trying to maximize the performance of the wood and build the fastest bow possible.

[Kegan]

Thanks guys . I've done a good bit of tempering, but never on boards. I figured I'd test it out on a sorta-light red oak baord bow I'm working on, see if it helps with speed, having had good luck with elm, hickory, and oaks in the past. If it does work, I'll be doing a hickory American longbow with a similiarly tempered belly.

However, the board didn't take alot of heat- started to burn too soon. Seems staves can take quite a bit more tempering?

[JackCrafty]

Good question.  I think I've noticed that too.....boards will burn quicker than staves.....but I think it has it do with moisture content.  Boards are usually quite dry. They also have been "pre-heated" in a kiln....and that affects the properties of the wood.

[DanaM]

In my opinion wood is wood, whether its a board or a stave. Place a kiln driend board and a stave in the same envoroment and the wood will reach
the same moisture content in time. I would definately add some reflex to the board at floor tiller stage. Then when you have it out to about 80% of your draw length
put it back on the form and toast the belly. When you toast the belly go slow, you don't want to turn it brown in 1 minute, let the heat soak in. Never tried red oak,
but I know it works just fine on white ash. I usually let the bow sit for a day or two after heat treating.

[snedeker]

Heat treating reflex into board bows is useful

Dave

[JackCrafty]

Yes, wood is wood.  However, if you've got a stave that you've dried yourself (air dried) the moisture content will be somewhere around 12% (up to 20%).  If you then go out and buy a board (about 6% moisture content) and place them both in your shop (side by side) and then try to heat treat them, the board will burn first.  OK, everyone knows that.

The tricky part is getting a stave down to 6% moisture content.  If you can do it (with a hotbox or kiln) then yes, we are comparing apples to apples.  Even so, I think the properties of kiln dried lumber and home-dried staves are different.  I think kiln dried lumber resists the absorption of water and home-dried staves resist the release of water.  Just my humble opinion.

[DanaM]

Gotta love this addiction we all share. Everyone has different views on any given subject but no one can say
who is right or who is wrong. What works for one may not work for the next person. No hard and fast rules
in this hobby is there Try it and see what happens is my advice after all its just wood

[Kegan]

Well, this one didn't really turn out . But, it's still snappy, and should make a fine bow none the less .

Next one I won't rush it.