bending hop hornbeam

[bluejack]

This is my first try with HHB,looks like I`ll have quite a bit of bending and straightening to do. How does HHB react to dry heat(probably not as well as osage.) Thanks for help!!

[bjrogg]

I guess it depends on how much you need to correct. I’ve made a quite a few from HHB. It’s a good bow wood but it is a little harder to work with than Osage when it comes to heat corrections and bending.

For static Recurves I use steam and boiling water. I leave it in the boiling pot for twice as long as Osage and it still bends harder. I also use a thin metal backing strip on the belly side of curve to help prevent lifting splinters.

For normal heat corrections I use dry heat . It seems to take more than Osage to get it moving and it seems to give up more of what you got than Osage. I usually go a little past with HHB.

It loves a good heat treatment though and I love the smell of heated HHB in the morning. Or any time of day.

Do you have any pictures?

I play with some pretty crooked Osage, but honestly when it comes to HHB I prefer nice clean and straight.

Bjrogg

[Pat B]

Bluejack, will you post pics of your stave so we can make a more educated judgement and suggestions.

[bluejack]

Sorry guys, I don`t know how to do pictures,but it has considerable propeller  in each limb and also need some straightening after trying to correct twist. Can`t find a straight HHB tree on my property. I should have asked before going as far as I did.  I`ll probably continue with it and see what I end up with. Wish me luck!!

[Will B]

Good luck Jim. I have a stave from that tree you gave me awhile back with several twist also… so I hope you are successful. If so I will give mine a go.

[bluejack]

Hey Will B maybe you should do yours first and let me know !!! Ha-gotcha !!

[bjrogg]

HHB does like to twist. I’ve split trees that twisted 180 degrees in six feet. They looked perfectly straight. I look at the bark now to see if it twist the grain usually does to.

Propeller really isn’t a done deal.

You can get away with more propeller than you might think.

You don’t need everything perfectly straight either. Just need tips to line up with center of handle.

One thing HHB is probably better than Osage for is interlocking grain. You can get away with not following the grain a little more laying out bow than Osage. I still get best results following grain though.

I use a rasp for reducing more with HHB. It sometimes like to tear out spots with draw knife

Bjrogg

PS I made a lot of bows from imperfect HHB. Very shootable bows. Don’t be afraid to try. It’s where I started. Also I would recommend reducing a stave to close to bow dimensions to help it dry better. It can be cut for years and still have moisture in it.