Main Discussion Area > Bows

Tillering in cold weather?

(1/2) > >>

mmattockx:
I am about to start on my first board bow. I live in central Alberta and it is still winter for the next 6 weeks at least. My workshop is unheated so it means I would be tillering a bow at below freezing temperatures. Is this a problem for the wood to handle? Any special precautions I need to take or extra steps/techniques required? I will bring the board out to my workshop and let it acclimate for a week at least before I start working on it.


Thanks,
Mark

bradsmith2010:
I have never done that,.,should work ok,,,maybe over build it a bit,,,,till it warms up

Stick Bender:
I tiller most of my bows in winter some times when I only have a hour or so I don't bother with my shop heaters 25-30 deg I have never noticed any difference vs warmer months on self bows, I dont think I would tiller a sinew bow in the cold !

bushboy:
I live in central Manitoba,north of winnipeg.my concern would be more about humity than the cold.ive tillered many bows in -25c without a noted problem.the wood being over dry could be a culprit being Alberta is so dry.some wood species can handle dry like hickory.

Weylin:
Like Bushboy said, moisture content is your limiting factor. With really cold temperatures comes low moisture content. That lowers the tension strength of your wood and makes it more prone to breaking. If you can keep your staves/bows somewhere with a healthy relative humidity then you should be able to shoot them and work on them for the day without worrying about the cold.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page