Fumed Ocean Spray

[DC]

I thought I would show you how dark OS gets when you fume it like Simpson does. The bow itself was a complete flop. I can't seem to keep it straight enough to keep the string on. It will stay on where it is now but I can hear the string snapping back into the groove when I let off. It will go into the corner of shame for a while. But the fuming worked great. It got this dark in 48 hrs using good ole Sudsy Ammonia which is only 5% ammonia. The handle insert and tips are natural Ocean Spray so it's an integrated before and after photo.

[bow101]

Fuming looks good.  Build up the tips and make a deep groove for the string to sit in.  The snap back deal is an issue easy to fix by using the round file.   By looking at the photo the tips look to small.

[DC]

Ya mean like this?

[Carson (CMB)]

Wow, that ocean spray really reacts to ammonia. That seams like a lot of color change for just 48 hrs and 5% ammonia.  A nice chocolate brown.
Don't leave that thing in the corner of shame too long. It cant be that far from being a nice bow.

[bow101]

Nope thats not what I meant, you dont leave much meat on the tip end to play with but thats beside the point.  More like this photo.  you will notice how the string grooves are cut in deep on the sides as well and the very thin margin of wood where the loop intersects.

[DC]

Who'd a thunk there was that much tannin in that white wood. What's really neat is the depth. My test piece was 4"x 1/2" x 1/2". After 4 days I ripped it down the middle and the color was the same everywhere. I had a handle insert glued in before I fumed it. It gets quite wet during the process and I think I dried it to quick. The OS shrunk and cracked the glue joint so I replaced it. Fuming makes the wood a little soft and I think that might have affected some of the heat correcting I'd done. Before I fumed it I had finally got it to hold the string. I'll let it dry a week or so and then try yet another heat correction. I betcha that'll be 15 or 20 tries. This one was a bear. I think the tips are to narrow. Is that what you meant by small, Bow101?
PS we were both posting at the same time. I really don't see how cutting the nocks deeper is going to stop the string from flipping off the side of the bow. I doesn't come off the tip, the tip twists and the string comes off the recurve. The loop stays in the nock. Like this

[bow101]

"I think the tips are to narrow."  mine or yours...?  deep groves side and back, try it next time if it dont work for this one.  Look at BlackHawks bow tips.  They are so fine.

[DC]

Mine and not just the very tip, the last 6-7 inches, I think.

[wizardgoat]

That's cool, I really gotta try it.

[bow101]

Your tips are quite thick.      I can see the string loop has no room to give or conform to the tips, basically the string loops appear to be uptight without a groove......

Glad I took up another hobby rather than bow building and thats Target shooting. Hunting is next. 

[Tree_Ninja]

That looks so amazing. I hope you figure out the string issue.

I always thought OS had alot of tannins, it apparantly has many traditional medicinal uses as well.

[AttieBotes]

Have you considered a type of bridge maybe? The same as is used in Asian style bows where the siyas are very narrow and gives a lot of reflex?

[Marc St Louis]

Very nice

Sometimes the limbs just want to twist on recurves.  What I do to correct it is brace the bow and pull back to maybe 18" of draw and hold it there with a T stick.  Then clamp the bow firmly in a vise and twist the tip sideways several times to past where the string tracks well by an inch or two, repeat until fixed.

P.S. Long recurves are more prone to this problem

[DC]

You do this with no heat?

[Marc St Louis]

You do this with no heat?

You don't want to be using heat while the bow is pulled back so YES no heat