Threy, you flat nailed that one! Excellent craftsmanship and quality. 53lb out of Red Oat is quite an accomplishment. I’ve had some “less than stellar” results with Red Oak – too much string follow. Out of curiosity, how much reflex did you put in the limbs during the heat-treating process?
Cheers man thanks for the encouragement! I'm not sure if my tillering is better than expected or whether this particular red oak is a very dense specimen but the bows are behaving themselves vey well so far.
I only heated in around 1.5 to 2 inches of reflex into the bows, just enough so that they don't take string follow or at least minimize it greatly but not enough to overstress the red oak. I find that my best change in how I heat treat is a transition from a heat gun to a slow cook over charcoal from around 1.5 to 3 hours depending on the temperature or amount of charcoal until the belly is a very dark brown and almost black on the handle riser. I also heat treat after floor tillering to 8 inches but before stringing so as not to preemptively crush the belly fibers. I've heard many experienced bowyers mention how its much easier to prevent set than correct it.
The photo shows one of my reflex cauls after a heat treatment which gives you an idea of the amount of reflex in the limbs. The caul is set to reflex around 3.5 inches so I've put small wooden blocks under the limb tips so as to have a solid surface to clamp to whilst not reflexing them as far.
