Thanks all for the kind words. I had a really nice stave to start with, and it made it easier to get a bow from it. I floor tillered it and left the tips 1" wide and 3/4" thick. Coated the tips with polyurethane up 12-13" on the limb. Put it in a tall stockpot with water 1" from the top and made a skirt/tent around it with heavy aluminum foil to seal fairly tightly. Put it in cold and let it boil for an hour after it came to a boil. I was told not to put bare wood into already boiling water and it was good advice !! When I took it out, I quickly put it into the form and made one deliberate smooth bend with the metal band laying on top of the belly and clamped it in place for 24 hrs.
Now, I'm going to reshape the form and make a true static tip - close to 90 degrees - or at least give it a go. It was a lot of fun actually bending the wood and having it retain it's shape when drawn.
