Boiling splices

[NTD]

When boiling splices how long do I need to boil them for(osage)?  Should I avoid heating the rest of the wood as much as possible?  Any specific do's or don'ts? 

Also does anyone pin their splices like Strunk explains in TBB1?

[NTD]

Well, I was kind of wanting to do this tonight so I decided I'd just try soaking the wood for 15 minutes, per TBB1 advice and I clamped them together and they fit nice and snug now. 

[M-P]

Hi Nate,  I'm just guessing, but ~15 min should do it.
I've heard that heating wood too long, or repeatedly heating it can make the wood brittle.  So, I've always tried to restrict my heating to the area I want to correct, bend, reflex, etc.
I'm glad the splice worked for you.   Ron

[bcbull]

when i splice osage i never boil it  just rub some veg  oil on  heat with ur heat gun  dry heat works very  well with osage  not half the time and mess as  boiling it brock

[Eric Krewson]

You ever have trouble with the splices coming apart after gluing if you oil the wood. I do the same without oil.

[Justin Snyder]

Depending on the thickness of the osage, I usually steam about 30 minutes.

Eric, you should be degreasing osage before gluing anyway. Degreasing should take care of the oil in the wood and the oil you added.

[bcbull]

eric never had a plm yet never had one come apart but i do wipe em down with acetone very well befor i glue  brock

[Eric Krewson]

I used to degrease osage religiously. I stopped one day when I read a Dean Torges statement that he thought freshly cut osage didn't need to be degreased. I have found this to be true, at least if you use Urac-185 for glue as I do.

To date I have spliced about 50 pairs of billets into bow staves without degreasing, always added a piece to the back of the handle to give me more to work with and never had a failure. All the splices were freshly cut.

I have made 20 or more BBOs with no degresing of the osage core or bamboo backing, no failures.

I have never oiled a piece of wood to heat bend it either and don't remember the last osage stave I worked that didn't need some heat gun correction, all of mine do, no exceptions.

Lots of old wives tales out there about what you have to do to when making a wood bow.

[Pappy]

I never oil Osage either,I do on most white wood if they need much heating. I have only done a few splices, 3 or 4 never had the need,got plenty of full staves but the ones I did ,I didn't do anything but cut the splice and glue it up.  Guess I got lucky.
   Pappy

[Marc St Louis]

A heat gun with no oil is what I do.  Only takes a minute