Bending ERC

[Pat B]

I'm planning to use some ERC for tip underlays on my 56" osage static recurve and don't know what method to use for the bending process. I imagine steam or boiling would be best but I don't know for sure. I have preped the ERC, 2 pieces 1 3/4" wide, 7 3/4" long and about 1/4" thick tapering to nothing at one end.  Should I seal the wood first? Steam or boil? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[BowEd]

Cool.You've dove tailed cedar into a hedge bow tips before I think I saw once.Bending wood that I want to stay put I steam bend first let dry then treat it with the heat gun for it to stay.Then in your case glue it on.Like Marc St. Louis talks about.That's the best I can tell ya.No sealing or anything done to it.Sealing it first accomplishes what then?

[blackhawk]

That severe of a curve id use steam for ERC Pat...that's gonna look sexy btw . Even if you get some spring back I wouldn't worry too much cus at that thickness and taper it to a knife edge to each end should form to it and the glue should hold em down good.

[bubby]

pat, if you wrap the erc strips in a wet rag and put it in the microwave for about 2 min it will bend like rubber, you may have to adjust the time some but I've bent lots of shorter pcs this way

[Pat B]

Buddy, that's the best news yet and sounds like the easiest, least mess method to do.
  Chris, I plan to use Urac for the glue up so close will probably be close enough.    Yeah, I think she'll be quite sexy. I'll have her at the Classic. You can touch if you promise not to drool on her. 
Beadman, this cedar will be glued on underlays attached like a tip overlay but added to the outside of the curve for support. It is not a spliced on addition like an Asiatic horn bow has.

[autologus]

pat, if you wrap the erc strips in a wet rag and put it in the microwave for about 2 min it will bend like rubber, you may have to adjust the time some but I've bent lots of shorter pcs this way

Ill bet we could take 4 microwaves and cut the sides out and put them side by side and we could microwave an entire stave that way to do your reflexing.  Just make sure you are not in the room when it is running.   

Grady

PS..  That was not an entirely serious post but not exactly out of the realm of possibility to a small degree.

[Pat B]

autologus, there was an article in an old PA Magazine about a guy that cut a hole in both sides of a microwave oven and used it to bend wood. I don't mind using the microwave like Bubby suggested but I ain't cutting holes in one and turning it on. 

[paulsemp]

I saw that one also pat.  I was going to do that with my jobsite wave but then i thought about all the unhealthy things l
Have done and quite while l was ahead!

[okie64]

Microwave huh??? Never thought about that but I will definitely be trying that method out. When Ive done underlays I thin the pieces down to 1/8" or a little thinner depending on what kind of wood it is and then glue them on one piece at a time so the underlay doesnt pull any of the recurve out. After the glue has dried hard on the first underlay I stack another piece on top of the first and glue it. A little more time consuming but it always works for me.

[autologus]

I would definitely want a remote control on the microwave so I could be far away when it came on. 

Grady

[Pat B]

I just tried the microwave but was unsuccessful. I tried it for 1 minute then another then another 2 minutes(almost too hot to touch) but I couldn't get it to bend before it got too cool to bend. The ERC didn't even seem to want to bend easily at all.
 I may go with the thin, multi-lam method. I have a few pieces I can use so I'll give that a try also.

[BowEd]

Yep Pat I understood what you were doing.Your bends will have to be from the same form for both woods but thinner lams together will work too.7and3/4" long that's maybe enough to make a diff.Oughta look nice anyway.I steamed my 3/4" thick erc for about an hour.It bent like butter but only at a 45 degree angle though over 4 or 5 inches of the tip.

[rossfactor]

Pat,

How do you flatten or prepare the belly of the recurve to receive the underlam? Belt Sander?  I'd like to put some underlams on a static I'm working on also, but worried about making a good mating surface.

Gabe

[bubby]

sorry that didn't work for you Pat, I've bent hickory, maple, ash and walnut and white oak but never tried erc, lots of videos of bending wood this way on youtube

[Pat B]

Bubby, I cut some thin pieces of yew and tried them in the microwave and it worked like a champ. The pieces of yew sprung back quite a bit but It still bends around the form easily. I also bent what I thought was ipe but I don't think it is. This has more red in the color than ipe. It is a tropical and it bent pretty good using the same process. I've taken a few pics and will take mopre as I go to glue up.