Set goes away overnight?

[cool_98_555]

So I have this awesome bow that has about 1" of reflex.  After I shoot the bow for an hour or so, it goes to about 1.5" of string follow.  When I check it the next day, the reflex is back at 1".  Is this normal?  What's going on here?

[Pat B]

wood is probably too wet still.

[Badger]

    It is very common but it doesn't matter if it comes back in 1 minute it is still set. I have a bow right now that I am very frustrated with. Still a very good shooter but the bow took almost no set, about 1.2" but when I draw it to full draw the first time it will read 58# second draw and all draws after that it will read 53#. Let it sit for a few hours it does the same thing.

[cool_98_555]

It has been seasoned for 2.5yrs and it had one heat-treating session.

[Badger]

  How much reflex did it have before tillering?

[cool_98_555]

It had around 1.5" of reflex before tillering

[sleek]

    It is very common but it doesn't matter if it comes back in 1 minute it is still set. I have a bow right now that I am very frustrated with. Still a very good shooter but the bow took almost no set, about 1.2" but when I draw it to full draw the first time it will read 58# second draw and all draws after that it will read 53#. Let it sit for a few hours it does the same thing.

Have you heat treated it yet steve?

[cool_98_555]

Maybe I should heat-treat again...just to get some more moisture out of it?

[Badger]

    It is very common but it doesn't matter if it comes back in 1 minute it is still set. I have a bow right now that I am very frustrated with. Still a very good shooter but the bow took almost no set, about 1.2" but when I draw it to full draw the first time it will read 58# second draw and all draws after that it will read 53#. Let it sit for a few hours it does the same thing.

Have you heat treated it yet steve?

  Yep, I thought it might still have some moisture so let it sit for a couple of months.  The poundage went up a little but still has the weight loss. The bow is overbuilt and plenty wide and tiller looks good. Holds about 1 3/4" reflex and settles in at about 2". It is a very good shooter but I think it would be better without the weight loss. No reversing it now.

[PatM]

 Some wood bows do just behave like a sinewed bow.  The combination of the back pulling the belly  back and the belly cells slowly expanding slightly over time.
 
   And that happens even if the wood is dry enough.    I find some Elm is frequently like this.  Kind of a hard but rubbery texture to it.

  Composite bows actually do this to a large degree.   I wouldn't worry about it.     Materials that were once living behave like living things.   They get tired and they recover.

[Eric Krewson]

Lots of bows behave that way, some of mine do, it is just wood doing what wood does. My wood is seasoned 10 or more years, kept in a moisture controlled environment. All of my bows are osage, on long shooting sessions I can tell a few lose a little punch with the first shots being much faster than the last. I have other bows that never slow down or gain and lose set overnight, wood is wood.

[Selfbowman]

Eric I tend to agree with ya. The great ones come 1or2 in a hundred. The rest are just really good bows. Except for the occasional failure . Yes 230 latter there is still a failure on occasion .
Arvin

[NorthHeart]

    It is very common but it doesn't matter if it comes back in 1 minute it is still set. I have a bow right now that I am very frustrated with. Still a very good shooter but the bow took almost no set, about 1.2" but when I draw it to full draw the first time it will read 58# second draw and all draws after that it will read 53#. Let it sit for a few hours it does the same thing.

Hi Badger, out of curiosity is the bow you speak of sinew backed?

[George Tsoukalas]

That's 3 total inches of  set. That's a lot. Sounds too wet to me also. 2.5 years of unaided drying/seasoning may not be enough.
But then again heat treating a wet stave would cause drying cracks.
Is the design (too short, too narrow for draw length) the culprit?
Jawge