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Did medieval bowyers heat treat their bows?

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Aksel:

--- Quote from: Strelets on May 27, 2023, 04:43:20 am ---In Toxophilus (1545) Roger Ascham wrote:

"Yet I would desire all bowyers to season their staves well, to work them and sink them well, to give them heats convenient, and tillerings plenty."

So, in the 16th century at least, "heats convenient" were a well-known part of the bowyers craft.





--- End quote ---

Interesting!



--- Quote from: Chumash on May 15, 2023, 02:02:29 pm ---

Hardening wood with fire or heat - the wooden speerpoint, the grave stick - is older then the knowledge of archery, I think.

--- End quote ---

I think you are right. Our ancestors were not stupid. If you understand that heat dries the wood Im sure you put the bow next to the camp fire. And move it closer. And closer. But then Del has a point, yew war bows from the medieval times were made in the thousands for huge armies so heat treatment might not have been significant enough on that scale to be worth the effort. More likely people in the stone age did this.

JNystrom:
I would add, heat treating a wood bow is by no means dangerous. On the other hand reflexing a bow too much with heat treating might be bad idea.
Heat is a good way to strengthen some areas. Its something that would be done during tillering. Surely that should be considered heat treating too.

Marc St Louis:
Something that go me started heat-treating bows in early 2000 was an article in PA about English bowyers of old using dry-heat to revitalize "tired" bows, what these bows were made of I don't remember but I would assume yew.  That article got me thinking at the time of using dry-heat on new bows

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