Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: cool_98_555 on July 18, 2017, 09:56:19 pm
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So I tempered the belly of my latest osage bow. It's been sitting there for 2 days now. Just wondering how long I need to wait for it to rehydrate so I can bend it again. From your experience, what is the best amount of time to wait before bending it again after tempering?
Thanks
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I just wait til the next day but I live in a humid spot.
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It all depends on the wood and the R/H where the bow is. This time of year east of the Mississippi gets pretty humid so a few days should be enough. Start out slow bending to reeducate the wood to bend and recover.
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I live in Il. so I usually wait the 9 day rule but with hickory I will wait a little less after breaking a few bows I always error on the more conservative side the denser the wood the longer I wait !
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I may not get mine as hot as some people do but I go back to bending the following day. My moisture tend to be a little on the high side starting off anyway. I can't say I have ever noticed any kind of a problem with it.
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The next day regardless of my temp or humidity. I used to go after them in 8-12 hours. I wait now, mostly just because I've had enough shop time and the lights go off til the next day!
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Hmm...so im probably good to go then
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When i retiller it after the tempering and it's rehydrated, do i tiller off the sides instead of the belly? How much tillering have you guys had to do after tempering in the past? I had the bow fully tillered and shot in about 100 times before tempering.
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Are you concerned with scraping off the treated part? If you are only going to take of a few scrapes I've never noticed a problem with scraping the belly. On one or two occasions when I heat treated early in the tillering I did get to a point where I thought I had scraped off the hardened wood.
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You can heat treat anytime you want even a month after you finish the bow if you want. I prefer to heat treat and put my reflex in right about the time I am ready to brace the bow. Not much wood comes off at this point. I don't heat treat in sections either. I run my heat gun back and forth over the entire limb, I figure it gives the heat a little more time to soak in. I also never go for a brown color, at a certain temp the yellow on osage will darken just a bit and get deeper and less bright. This is about where I stop assuming the back of the bow has gotten hot enough I can't hold my hand on it for more than about a second. This lets me know the heat has soaked all the way through.
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I can't hold my hand on it for more than about a second. This lets me know the heat has soaked all the way through.
Can't hold your hand on the back of the bow? or the belly?
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Yeah, the back. If you heat the belly long enough and slowly enough, the heat goes all the way through. Then you know it is really tempered.
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I heat treat exactly te same way as Badger and have good results with it. With black locust and hickory, I've went back to tillering the same day once the wood is cool. And I havnt had any problems from it. These are nows in the 40-50# realm. So nothing extreme.
Kyle
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I don't want to remove too much of the brown on the belly because it looks cool to me. I just braced it to full brace and looks like the bottom limb will need a little more adjustment...hopefully not a lot though. The bow was already pulling 83# @ 30" before tempering.