twist in wood

[Hopefullbowyer]

started working on a bow for my daughters.  Making from black locus.  only my fourth atempt.  have one that shoots but pull is only about 15lbs.  The logs I am spliting my staves from are twisting from end to end about 45 degrees. the equipment I have is minimal. hatchet, axe, block plane, 4 in one file.  have a bow roughed out to 1.5 inches at middle .5 inches at tips. 3/4 inches thick. what is the best way to remove the 45 degrees of twist from on end to the other?

[Pappy]

Heat gun is what I use ,but if you don't have one you can use any kind of heat,stove burner fire
it don't matter.Just get a place to clamp it then get it hot and clamp as soon as you can.Try to twist it more than you need because some will not hold.
      Pappy

[Hopefullbowyer]

was reading in primitive archer mag about the ottowa bow.  the writer mentions cutting a string grove in the strong side.  how deep of a grove and how due you tell the strong side from the weak side.

[George Tsoukalas]

Take one of the staves, hopeful. Remove the bark, the sapwood, and chase down to a ring you want and seal the back with some kind of poly. Get the back smooth first. Remove all nicks and it smooth with at least down to 220 grit. Go ahead and bring the stave to floor tiller. Bend it a couple of inches. It will dry faster. I'm betting the twist will be less than 45 deg. Remember to follow the longitudinal grain as you lay it out. Leave the nocks about an inch wide for now and leave the handle full width. That way it is less likely to twist and you can adjust the string tracking. More on my site. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[yazoo]

I just did a how to in the how to section on this site,, that shows how to take the twist out,, might help

[Hopefullbowyer]

hey yazoo what kind of oil are you spraying.  just finished reading through your build along found it useful.  thanks

[Pat B]

Any veg oil will work.

[Hopefullbowyer]

o.k. just finished heating the bow and left it clamped to a 2x6. unclamped and the bow stayed straight did something right for once.  was not sure how long to heat the bow.  I spent about 2 hours heating it sections at a time with a wagner heat gun.  Started tillering hope this one works out with out breaking.

[riarcher]

I tried Yazoo's bending ideas last week.
Simply glued and screwed a 2X3 to a 2X4 in a "L" shape for a clamping platform.
8' 2Xs were cut to 80+ inches and the scraps halved and glued for a base.

Set a bow up with minimal presure, coated the area with olive oil and heated with a Wagner gun.
Heated it slowly and worked the clamps gently  with shims and such on the bow to get it a little past where I thought it should be.

Spent maybe a hour initially,, let cool and applied more heat. All together I think I applied the method 3 times and let it sit about 24 hrs.

WORKED LIKE A CHARM!!!
Results were way better than hoped for. I am impressed.
I've steamed wood many times for boats, but this was sooo much easier and controlable.

Thanks Yazoo for that posting. I learn something new on here everyday.