Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Stickhead on March 03, 2013, 01:56:15 pm

Title: Bending red oak?
Post by: Stickhead on March 03, 2013, 01:56:15 pm

I'm working on my first red oak bow (from a board).  I'd like to flip the tips a bit. Does red oak respond well to dry heat bending?  Steam?

Thanks for any advice.

-Tom

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: AH on March 03, 2013, 02:29:49 pm

I've done it with red oak by boiling, but I'm not an expert. I'm not a huge fan of recurving :embarassed:

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: DarkSoul on March 03, 2013, 02:32:57 pm

(Red) oak is supposed to be very easy to steam bend. But I'd discourage you to heat/steam bend your first bow. It's hard enough to get a decent tiller and keep the bow in one piece! Adding another factor of complexity with recurving is for later on when you have more experience with straight bows.

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: Stickhead on March 03, 2013, 02:36:14 pm

Thanks, DS. To clarify, I've got quite a few bows under my belt, some with recurved tips.  I just haven't worked with red oak before, so I'm unsure about bending it.

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: Pat B on March 03, 2013, 02:37:59 pm

I've never recurved a board stave so I'm no help there.

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: vinemaplebows on March 03, 2013, 02:41:58 pm

On boards I always wrap the ends in a wet clothe for 24 hrs before applying any heat.

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: bubby on March 03, 2013, 03:03:47 pm

steam it 45 min to an hr, bub

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: koan on March 03, 2013, 03:14:48 pm

Ive tried dry heat on oak boards....it wasnt worth my time, lol. Belly likes toastin, but couldnt get any real curve goin..... Brian

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: PatM on March 03, 2013, 03:25:11 pm

Soaking wood to make it "green" again and then steaming or boiling seems to work best. I'll give a stave a couple of days with the end submerged, steam and recurve and then soak the other end while the first is drying.

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: autologus on March 03, 2013, 03:38:09 pm

Quote from: bubby on March 03, 2013, 03:03:47 pm

steam it 45 min to an hr, bub

This has worked for me.

Grady

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: BOWMAN53 on March 03, 2013, 04:12:36 pm

Soak the tips for atlease 8hours and boil for atlease 45mins. Steam doesnt work too well in my experience.

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: bubby on March 03, 2013, 04:44:19 pm

I never had to soak any wood for 8 hrs to flip the tips or do a static, just reduce the tips to about 1/2" thick and steam 1 hr, easy peasy

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: Stickhead on March 03, 2013, 04:48:00 pm

Thanks, all.  Guess I won't bother trying dry heat. Think I'll try Bubby's technique.

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: Matt Heppe on March 03, 2013, 05:06:51 pm

Boiled mine for 40 minutes and had no problem bending it.

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: PatM on March 03, 2013, 11:49:45 pm

The soaking is merely to increase the chances of perfect bending. You will notice that your success rate when bending wood goes up dramatically when doing all the extra steps that ensure the process works. Since it takes no effort to just stick the end of the stave in a bucket for a few days, you might as well do it.

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: Dauntless on March 04, 2013, 01:19:32 am

I flipped the tips on a Red Oak board bow once with a heat gun. I'm not particularly skillful so it did scorch a bit, but the curves are in for good.

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: BOWMAN53 on March 04, 2013, 02:46:57 am

Bubby: thats just my experience,  i lifted big splinters  when i didnt soak the tips.

Title: Re: Bending red oak?
Post by: bubby on March 04, 2013, 03:31:01 am

that's cool bowman, I throw a backing scrap in the microwave wrapped in a wet towel for 2 min before I try to bend the tips, I put that on the belly before I start the bend to help with slivers, micro turns it into a noodle, wish I had one I could nock a hole in i'd steam them that way, Bub