my new hackberry 54# recurve.

[richardzane]

even though I'm a full time artist/craftsman for almost 30 years
working with clay, and woods, i'm a TOTAL bowmaking novice.
Creating something that is continually being flexed and bent to extreme arcs is unique.

bet there are some more experienced ones lurking here
that might cringe at my technique and might suggest a better tried and true one.

one thing i'm NOT certain of is how do we really know when the wood is HOT ENOUGH?
without scorching? and will over-scorching make the wood more brittle?
more liable to just snap crackle and pop at some future point?

If back-bent TOO COOL, it could force apart growth rings that might be cut through on its belly.
so i got lucky with this one, but i'm not yet confident about the perfect moment to bend.

[John W. Cooper]

I prefer roasting Hickory in a nice olive oil blend.  Nice and nutty!  (like me)     I, too, really like that braced profile.  Nice gentle curve.  It's hard to know how hot to get the wood, but I usually judge it as ready when I can't keep my hand on the wood for more than a second.  A little bit of brown on the belly of the bow is good...black is bad.  Don't heat the back.  Now I know I have to go cut that Hackberry since so many people love it! Nice work. 

John