heat bending for vine maple

[d frana]

I've had a vine maple stave I picked up at Mojam sitting around for two years and it's time to turn it into a bow.  It has quite a bit of deflex and I want  to get reflex in the limbs.   I've had good luck using my heat gun and form for osage and want to know if vine maple responds good to heat as well.  I'm sure the stave is dry by now.  Also, has anyone had experience with heat treating vine maple to enhance performance?

[ricktrojanowski]

I've only made one V.M. bow, and I used dry heat to straighten it and even out the reflex.  I believe that Gordon (The Vine Maple expert) also heat treats the bellies of his V.M. bows with a heat gun.

[aaron]

i've successfully reflexed VM tips by steaming for 45 min- the tips were about at finished dimentions when i did it. I cooled them for 15 min clamped then let them sit a couple days and they look great.

[El Destructo]

Shellac it...and steam it...will bend almost as easy as any other Wood when done this way....I don't like dry Heat on Vine Maple...maybe others like Gordon will chime in...I have only made 5 Bows from VM...and I used Steam on all but the First...and I broke it