steaming bows

[shiraforge]

I'm working on my first bow out of hickory. I want to setback the handle a bit and recurve the tips.  ANy suggestions on how to steam/ heat to do this.   

[Matt S.]

This is a good question, I am also curious to see how other people bend setback handles since I'm sure there are better ways than what I am doing.

For what it's worth, I am working on three bows with setback handles. All my bends are very mild because I'm just learning the techniques. All three of my bows are board bows, 2 red oak and one maple. I use steam.
There are two basic ways I go about it (this is just for the setback handle mind you):
1) I steam the middle of the board then bend it over a form so that immediately out of the handle the limbs bend into straight reflex. After this bend, the board looks like a shallow 'V'. Next, measure several inches out from the handle on each side and bend the limbs back towards the belly (deflex).
2) I place the board into a crude form I made that has blocks of wood supporting the tops and bottoms of the limbs but the middle section is unsupported. I use a clamp to bend the handle down into this middle section. The form prevents the limbs from moving up while the handle is being clamped down.

Sorry, it probably makes more sense with pictures than words, so if you want I can take some photos.

[shiraforge]

I get your basic idea.  Do you steam it on your kitchen stove or did you make some kinda conptraption to steam it in?

Thanks,

matthew Shirey

[Matt S.]

I just steam it in the kitchen (though I get a lot of  from my wife LOL)

They way I do it is very simple:
I have a large pot of water (I think it's a 3 or 4 quart pot) and I then have a piece of plywood with a hole cut in the middle. The plywood goes on the pot and into the hole I insert my steamer.
My steamer is just PVC pipe, about 3-4 feet long, cut in the middle and fitted with a 'T' junction. The bottom of the T piece fits into the hole in the plywood and the bow rests in the PVC pipe.

I stuff some old rags into the open ends and let it steam for 50-60 minutes.

If this doesn't make sense let me know and I'll take a picture or draw a diagram.
Hope it helps,
Matt

[osage outlaw]

I recently steamed in some recurves on a hickory stave for the first time.  I left the tips a little thick in case a splinter raised, which it did on each tip.  I was able to sand them out and they are still plenty thick. I steamed each one for about 45 minutes before bending.  I used a hot plate and a pot of water covered with foil.  I also used a thin metal strip against the belly when I bent them to try and prevent splinters.  I steamed the handle of the bow to remove twist also.  I only steamed the areas that I wanted to bend, not the entire bow.  I don't have a setup for that yet.

[shiraforge]

Thanks for all the input!  I REALLY appreciate the help from this forum.  It's refreshing to interact with people that are so willing to share what they know!

Matthew

[Del the cat]

I made a small steam chest from old insualtion board (foam stuff with a thin aluminium facing) held together with duct tape. I use a wallpaper stripper to generate the steam.
It depends on what you have lying around I s'pose...
There's a pic on the 'other stuff' page on my website (click on the globe symbol beneath my username)
Del