Steam Bending guide & tips, Osage

[Pat B]

You can seal the area to be steamed or boiled with shellac to help prevent moisture from entering the wood. I doubt that much moisture does enter the wood. I't the heat and not the moisture that makes the wood malleable. 
 Depending on where you store the bow after steaming/boiling as to how long it takes to dry but I'd give it at least 24 hours and maybe 48.

[DC]

You can seal the area to be steamed or boiled with shellac to help prevent moisture from entering the wood. I doubt that much moisture does enter the wood. I't the heat and not the moisture that makes the wood malleable. 
 Depending on where you store the bow after steaming/boiling as to how long it takes to dry but I'd give it at least 24 hours and maybe 48.

This brings up something I just discovered. For all the time I've been bending Ocean Spray it always turns grey when I steam it. I seal my staves with shellac. This last time one limb turned grey so when I did the other I cleaned the shellac off with lacquer thinner first. This one didn't turn grey. So something about OS and shellac and steam=grey. It doesn't come off afterward. I don't know if some other woods do this but it might be worth running a test on a new to you mixture.

[osage outlaw]

I use a wallpaper steamer and an aluminum heat tube.  I've tried the pot of boiling water and the wallpaper steamer is much easier.  Plus there's no risk of scorching the bow tips from the heat source. 

[Pat B]

Clint's steamer is the bomb. He had it at the Classic and built a recurve while there. The steamer worked great!