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A couple static curve questions
WhistlingBadger:
Working on a hickory shorty with what I hope will be static recurves. I haven't started bending it yet, but I got the curves steamed in. I'm a little worried about whether they'll be stiff enough. I was thinking about boiling some elk antler slices and gluing them on the inside of the curves to stiffen them a bit. If nothing else, it would look cool, but of course I'm more concerned with performance and not having the curves pull out or break.
How to you know if your curves are stiff enough? Any guidelines? Thoughts on antler overlays for stiffening?
SLIMBOB:
Couple of thing's. I typically wont heat bend until I get it bending at floor tiller. Then I will check it on the long string. If the tips aren’t bending, then they should remain stiff as I shed wood from the working limb. Since you already heat bent the tips, just tiller it out on the floor. If the limbs are not bending yet, the tips I would bet, will remain stiff. Just a guess without seeing it, but I would take the over on this.
superdav95:
--- Quote from: SLIMBOB on December 25, 2023, 10:00:07 pm ---Couple of thing's. I typically wont heat bend until I get it bending at floor tiller. Then I will check it on the long string. If the tips aren’t bending, then they should remain stiff as I shed wood from the working limb. Since you already heat bent the tips, just tiller it out on the floor. If the limbs are not bending yet, the tips I would bet, will remain stiff. Just a guess without seeing it, but I would take the over on this.
--- End quote ---
+1 for me. This is how I do it as well. Sometimes I’ll get it to 20” draw with stiff flat tips then steam them in and let cool and acclimate really well for a couple days. After that I’ll set them in with same dry heat. As far horn or antler on the back it does work too. Just another step that you may not even need to do. I would think it wouldn’t take much with a glue line to stiffen up the static. You’d be surprised how little thickness is needed to stiffen up a recurve. Another option could be a wood laminate instead of horn on the belly portion of the recurve. I’ve had success with this when I wanted to maintain the back the way it is. Best of luck on it. Post some pics would help give better idea too.
WhistlingBadger:
OK, thanks, guys. Looks like I got excited and did things in the wrong order. I'm hoping to get into the shop today and get some work done, so I'll see if I can get some pictures.
WhistlingBadger:
OK, here's what I have so far. Going to back it with dogbane fiber, since it's so short and I didn't really chase a ring. Hoping for around 50-55# @ 27" when finished. Do you think the curves will be stiff enough? They're .6" tall and .5" wide.
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