Fixing stingalignment

[TBod]

I've had problems with string alignment jumping back after steaming before. I'm thinking of doing this now.

1.Steam the handle for 1,5 hours
2  Put it the form inside house with a fan blowing , no heat
3 Keep it in the form for 24 hours
4. Check the alignment
5. Back in the form and tempere the belly side of the handle with a heatgun. This to prevent it from jumping back.

Pic showing the handle and the off alignment. Its about 1/2" off.

Any advice or thoughts??

Thanks


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[artcher1]

Yeah, you can steam the handle and keep it straight. Dry heat, IMO, will benefit your more long term since it shrinks the woods cells mimiking the seasoning process. 

Since you only need to straighten instead of recurving you don't need to steam for an hour and a half, 20-25 min. should do it. You don't need to use a form either. Just bend "past" what you consider straight and then back to straight. It will hold that position if you do things correctly.

But first you should check and make sure you have both limbs/tips straight. Handle should be the last part of the bow to straighten.

ART

[Pat B]

How does the string line up at brace?  If it is off the minute amount as shown in the pic it would be more trouble than it is worth to move the string over 1/2".  Also If you had left the handle area full width you can remove wood from one side or the other to line the string up on the bow. Same goes with the tips. Leave them wider until the bow is tillered or almost tillered so if you need a minute adjustment you can easily do so without steaming, boiling or using dry heat to bend the wood.

[woodstick]

thats what i do pat, i have never steamed to get it good i allways take my wood off to offset the off string. maybe not right but it works for me. simple ways for a simple mind. and us okies too.

[TBod]

Thanks for the replies! appreciate it.

Sorry but I didn't get the answers I was looking for..
 
I'm past the wood remove strategy to fix the alignment. I wanted to follow the grain when laying out the bow and ignored the off alignment it lead to. When I have follow the alignment instead of the grain it usually leads to twisting or something. The stave was not straight.

It's to much to bend to use only dry heat to fix the alignment I think. So I figured steam then tempering to fix it permanently.

Thats really my question. Steam and then tempering, how about it?

Here's the front of it



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[Del the cat]

Can't you just use the missalignment to your advantage and shoot from the side closest to the sting? Or does it twist in your hand.
The bottom line with any bow is how it shoots not how it looks...
If you must straighten it, go for steam and bend it past the point which you want to allow for some recovery, It should only take a small angle of bend at the grip to ship the tips by 1/2 "
Del

[TBod]

Can't shoot with it now cause one limb is better suited for toplimb and vice versa..

I'm going for steam and then securing the bend with tempering. It really wants to jump back to off alignment.

Anyway I want to bend it really bad

[sailordad]

if one limb is already better suited for the top/bottom
then why not just build for the opposite hand and sell/trade/give it to someone who shoots that side
im sure they would like it
that way you get it finished and gain some experience for the next one

[Pat B]

If you steam the handle area you will add moisture. If then you temper the handle area you are
force-drying the wood and this will cause it to check.  You will need to wait for the wood to dry before tempering and I still don't believe it is going to accomplish what you are trying to do.
  Will you post a pic of the bow braced looking from end to end so we can see how the string lines up. You can't tell anything from an unbraced wood bow.

[PeteC]

T-bod,remember you can use dry heat on the handle,while weighting a limb down,and get your correction, without tempering the wood.I do it on nearly every bow I build.Just heat it slowly till it bends how you want it. God Bless

[Eric Krewson]

I would straighten the limb tips first with heat, then bend the handle to align the string also with heat. If your handle looks a little lop sided after bending, glue a piece of wood on the concave side, shape it to match the other side  and cover it with leather. If you glue on a piece of wood there will be no going back to like it was before bending.

[TBod]

Thanks guys!

I'm digesting the info from you all.

I`ll probably steam and tempere, could be exiting

[George Tsoukalas]

I don't vote for either, TBod. LOL.  You probably are not going to like what I have to say. I prefer to back up and offer a little advice and you know what they say about free unsolicited advice. This is a classic case of you trying to dictate the design to the stave. I prefer to allow the stave to determine the design.You said the stave was crooked to start and you followed the grain. I assume you mean the lateral grain and that is outstanding! The thing to do is leave the handle full width and the nocks a good inch wide and then you can adjust the string tracking accordingly. I can tell you how if you are interested for future efforts. I would say ordinarily that getting the string to track  is not worth the effort for the small amount it is off in this case. However, I have a greater concern about the handle. It seems awfully narrow and thin.  What are the dimensions of the handle? Jawge

[George Tsoukalas]

BTW you only have to worry about using dry heat on really green wood. Steam or dry. Your choice? Jawge

[Dano]

Looks like your mind is made up on the steam and temper. I would at least follow Pats advice and let the bow dry before tempering.