Ash from wheelbarrow handle. (it blew up)

[lostarrow]

Steam does work great ,especially if you have a larger bend or thicker piece. backer strip never hurts either(needs a nice flat piece like a board to be effective. Looking good!

[ionicmuffin]

thanks! im doing the other side now. I was supprised to fine NO signs of damage to the belly and back of the bow! im glad nothing has been damaged

[ionicmuffin]

alright!!!!! so i just bent in the other tip this morning! now to let it cool! looks like there's no damage to the limb either, which i suspect that the steel strap, or in this case, giant 71 inch steel ruler was the one that stopped any damage. So, after its cooled off and dried i can begin again! quick question though. how long does in need to return to normal MC content? i can stick it next to my dehumidifier, unfortunately its set to 55% so im not sure how much good that will do. i could also put it in my room and have my heater on at 72 degrees.

[ionicmuffin]

here is my progress so far, i dont really like the look of the curve but it will serve the purpose. the tip on the right is bent more than the tip on the left. the left one was taken out around 8 hrs ago and i just took out the other one. i have a feeling the left one pulled out a bit, theres maybe an inch of difference between the two. So how long do i need to keep it unstressed before i can start again?

[DarkSoul]

quick question though. how long does in need to return to normal MC content? i can stick it next to my dehumidifier, unfortunately its set to 55% so im not sure how much good that will do. i could also put it in my room and have my heater on at 72 degrees.

I know it is counter-intuitive, but steambending wood actually DRIES OUT the wood. The same holds true for boiling wood, or dry heat bending it. So you do not want to put the bow in a dehumidifier or a hot box! Yet, you still have to wait for the wood to return to a healthy moisture content. I personally prefer to do that in the same room where I store my wood/bows since I know the resulting EMC will be favorable there. Opinions may vary here, but I think waiting for two days to reach a health moisture content is sufficient. It may not have reached EMC by that time, but the level of moisture should be high enough to continue tillering. I've found a 75% moisture recovery after heat belly tempering an elm flatbow in 18 hours directly after belly tempering (so 75% of the initially lost moisture was regained in 18 hours).

[ionicmuffin]

ok, thanks! im not going to be impatient ill just wait till around this time tuesday. by then i will have a good amount of time to work on it.

[randman]

here is my progress so far, i dont really like the look of the curve but it will serve the purpose. the tip on the right is bent more than the tip on the left.

I couldn't see a pic for this last post but I am watching this thread with great interest because I also have one of those Lowes 60" ash wheelbarrow handles that has almost perfect quartersawn grain on it. I plan on splitting it down the middle and getting 2 quartersawn staves out of it to make either a halfeye/badley bent scalloped edge bow and maybe a plains style gullwing or a eastern woodlands bendy handle style.

[ionicmuffin]

you know what. i did the exact same thing with mine. except i made sure that the rounded part would be the belly side and the side i cut would be the back. its not perfect, but its pretty darn close. If you want i can email you a picture of the current profile. Based on my experience with this piece i HIGHLY recommend steaming ash to get the bends you want. I was looking at some steam bending info and it stated that ash can be bent around as small a radius as 4.5 inches with a steel strap. so if you want really nice curves then thats the best you can get, however, sounds like your going for something that resembles half eyes scalloped bow out of ash, hes the reason i believe i can get a good bow from this. I have seen no damage that is visible except maybe the startings of a very small splinter that will be gone once i finish the bow. im very proud of how its gone so far and for 12 $ i really did get a good deal with the handle. basically i payed 6$ per bow stave and its really an incredible bender.

[autologus]

Here is the one I made from a wheel barrow handle.  It was really easy to bend and work.  I was very impressed with the wood it was really begging to be a bow.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,37653.0.html

Grady

[lostarrow]

I was looking at some steam bending info and it stated that ash can be bent around as small a radius as 4.5 inches with a steel strap.

Did it mention a thickness for that?  The radius a piece of wood can be bent to is directly relative to the thickness.The thinner it is ,the tighter the radius. Probably an obvious statement , but one to add to your toolbox if you don't already have it

[randman]

Ash is typically what was used for the old antique "steam bent" chairs and you can see from the pic how tight a curve can be bent

[ionicmuffin]

yeah that was for 1 inch of thickness if i remember correctly

[lostarrow]

I don't recall ever seeing bentwood furniture of Ash. Usually Beech. This one looks like beech as well. Not saying it isn't out there. Ash does bend very well though. Any pics of the progress?

[ionicmuffin]

oh sorry heres the pic

[randman]

Yeah I've seen them with beech too and I've seen them with both in the same chair. The pic I posted is probably a new one as well. I just pulled it off the web to illustrate what type of chair and bend I was talkin about.

Lookin good muffin. Can't wait to see it done.