Osage Bow (that hopefully doesn't take 10 months)

[Eric Krewson]

Forget about any thickness measurement, from here on out you will be concerned about how evenly your limb bends. It is unlikely you will be able to tiller by limb thickness measurements.

[DC]

And another +1

[Dictionary]

Wow man 15 pages and not even floor tillered? I think you may be overthinking everything, marin. Its good that you want to be careful and make a quality bow but you kinda just need to dive in with this. Its bow making not nuclear engineering. Use your hands a bit more than your brain

[Marin]

If you think this is long, just look at my board bow page 
I'm trying to go as quick as I can. This is only my second bow, my first one made from a tree stave. I'm just asking the questions I think are necessary and, in addition, am closely reading the TBB.

[Marin]

Okay, got both limbs thinned out and ready to floor tiller but I do have a problem. The stave has a sort of natural reflex in one limb and a natural deflex in the other. How do I tiller these areas?

[DC]

In the long run the easiest way is to match the limbs. Use heat to put reflex in the deflexed limb or vice versa. Starting off with both limbs the same makes tillering easier. Just going ahead on it the way it is you will end up(hopefully) with one limb that looks like it's bent more than the other and you will have to compensate with your brain and eyes. It's not easy. Hope you understood that, I wrote it three different ways and thought this was the best

[Marin]

How do I use heat to take out the reflex and the deflex? Can I just heat the belly over a stove then clamp it down?

[DC]

Marc's chapter in TBB4

[Marin]

 Only have volume 4 

[Marin]

I mean I only have volume 1

[Marin]

Do you think I would be able to find that information online or would it be worth it to invest in a copy?

[penderbender]

Basically heat it until it will bend easily and then ( as quick as you can, because it will loose heat quickly) clamp it into the shape you want. Let it cool and your done. Cheers- Brendan

[Pat B]

Be sure to pad the clamps so you don't add dimples to the hot wood when you tighten the clamps. You can clamp it flat to a 2x4 or your work bench or make a caul to the shape you want to match the limbs. Three inches of even reflex should leave you with a flat profile or an inch of reflex when shot in.

[Marin]

But do I only heat up the belly,or sort of twirl the stave when heating it up over a stove? And how long should I heat it up for?

[Pat B]

Heat only the belly and be sure you don't scorch the back. You can heat the belly until you can't hold your thumb on it. You can coat the area to be heated with cooking oil to keep from scorching. I think it helps hold the heat in a bit longer, too. Heat and clamp only 6" to 8" at a time before moving on to the next section.