How much bend can you heat into a Vine Maple bow

[wildkatt]

Just finished a long but skinny Vine maple bow and im wondering since i have no experience with heat bending maple. How hot and how much will straiten with time.


Katt

[rossfactor]

I would like to listen in here.  I'm having a heck of a time achieving string alignment in my latest VM bow.  Heat treated a limb for 1/2 and hour that was clamped into the desired position, and when I un-clamped it several hours later, it sprung right back to its original shape.  This stave is very stubborn. 

Gabe

[snag]

I've heard VM is springy....? Maybe it has a mind of it's own and won't straighten..

[sharpend60]

Ive been having a hell of a time with one Ive been working.

Been trying to get limbs tips aligned with the handle.
The string was completely off of center, in fact it was about 1" left of the handle altogether
I finally got one the limbs straight enough and it cracked on the belly side.
I'm gonna keep building though and see how it does.


So to answer your question, I have no idea.
Ive abused this stave something fierce. Steamed it 1 hour and bent the snot outta it with a big c-clamp, 5 or more times now.

Ive had others that barely kept any or no reflex.
Ive been using steam by the way. I know it can be bent, seems to me you should take it far past where you want it and clamp it tight for some time.

[wildkatt]

got it to bend will post pics tomorrow

Katt

[aaron]

i have bent a few VM bows , some more successfully than others. here are my observations:
I steam for at least an hour, more if thicker, and i try to trap steam around the area with a tinfoil "tent" or a section of downspout.
When steaming rigid parts of the bow (tips) - the bend seems permanent,but while steaming the bending parts, the bend comes out almost completely. I think this is true of all woods.
I have put a 45 degree bend in a VM limb tip, but have had less success with bending the handle.
I don't know if you can over steam it, but i'm guessing your problems arise from too little steaming, or a setup that does not direct the steam well.
good luck!

[Gordon]

I bend vine maple using either steam or a heat gun. For handles and sharp bends (i.e. recurves) I use steam - 45 min to 1 hour depending on thickness. I use the heat gun for inducing reflex - typically flipping the tips up slightly because reflex is rarely an issue when working with vine maple. I also use a heat gun for making minor limb adjustments such as correcting twist. What won't work is if you try to remove reflex using heat - it will just come back. A couple of tips based on my experience:

1) When steam bending, get the bow from the heat source to the form quickly. You have about 30 seconds before the wood starts to resist bending. Leave clamped to the form for at least 12 hours and don't stress the wood for about 48 hours.

2) When using a heat gun, bend the wood slowly. I either slowly clamp the wood into form, or use a weight and let the wood slowly work it's way to the form as it loses resistance. You can unclamp after the wood is cool and stress it after 24 hours.

[wildkatt]

Well said id post a pic 


Katt

[wildkatt]

couple more pics



Katt

[wildkatt]