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Heat treat again?

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WhistlingBadger:
I'm about to travel into more humid climes with Big Red, my trusty pyramid bow of hickory.  I was just putting a coat of lard/wax/pitch on it to keep out the humidity, and it occurred to me that it has lost its reflex over the past couple years.  Would it be worth putting it on the form and heating some reflex back into it?  Would that be detrimental?  Or just a waste of time?

Here's the bow.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=70991

Hamish:
Its lost its reflex, but does it actually have much stringfollow,  and has it dropped in draw weight? How long are you going to be in the humid zone? Are you prepared to have to redo the leather grip, and overlays if the glue line lifts during heat treatment?

Personally I wouldn't bother if I was happy how the bow performs for your task eg hunting the difference won't matter much, if it's a flight shoot bow you might risk it, for the extra distance.

In all likelihood hickory will respond favorably to another heat treat/small reflex, for the short term, but sooner or later it will probably return to its current condition. 

WhistlingBadger:
We're going to be in Nebraska for a week.  The  bow has about 1/2" of follow on one limb; the other is straight.  I haven't tested the weight since I originally tillered it but I don't think it's lost more than a couple pounds.  I'm happy with how it shoots, but if cooking it a little would make it shoot a little flatter, I'd consider it worth the effort.

Hamish:
I'm more of an "If it aint broke don't fix it" kind of guy, but that's just me. The very slight stringfollow is what you would expect if the bow started out with 1.5-2" of reflex, still in the high to ideal range.

Sounds like you are prepared for any minor potential risk, or inconvenience so you may as well give it a go :OK

Selfbowman:
With Osage it would not help I my opinion. Is Nebraska that humid??

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