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Heat treating demystified (Somewhat)

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superdav95:
Correct.  Especially the power fiber side of bamboo.  You may get away with it more toasted in the belly but even there I’ve had failures.  The odd one will survive but it’s no noticeable gain that I’ve noticed going darker toasted Color.  It’s the lignins and pectins in bamboo that caramelize or harden with in the cells of the wood that give it more compression ability.  Tension is already pretty good on dry bamboo and so heat treatment used on the outside surface is risky in my opinion and experience from my builds.  The main benefit may be the loss of mass or moisture content.  I always measure my before and after weights when heat treating bamboo and do notice a difference in overall mass.  There is some acclimated moisture that returns but never to the same degree it was at all.  I seal mine soon after heat treatment too to prevent too much mc creeping back.   

richgibula:
Thanks for that info.  I was asking because you get more attractive looking wood with more toasting, but not at the expensive of wood integrity.

Badger:
     I don't really have much to add to this beyond just personal observations that sometimes contradict themselves. For example, many dense tropical woods I have worked with don't seem to benefit from heat treatment with a couple of exceptions. One of them is massaranduba, but in its case, it is also known to have issues with water retention. Osage responds very well to heat treating and it does resemble the tropical woods more than it does most northern hemisphere woods. I am convinced that moisture removal and improvement in the ability of the wood to stay dry is a major factor, especially in white woods. But I also believe there is some plasticity gained by heat treatment. I never wait for a bow to rehydrate after heat treatment. As soon as it cools I tiller it. I have never had any issues with them losing draw weight after they acclimate.  I tend to leave them about 3# heavy if I finish them right after heat treatment. Hoping when they rehydrate the weight will go with it. I never does change, and I always have to go back and take off the 3#.

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