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Author Topic: Crepe Myrtle - plan A  (Read 5264 times)

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Offline lesken2011

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Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« on: March 04, 2013, 10:15:20 am »
I decided to try out one of the crepe myrtle staves I cut last spring for this year's trade bow. I do have several options for backups, if it doesn't work out. I have run into a couple of hurdles I need help with, though, and hope to get some help from you experts. I think I did a reasonable job at shaping the stave into a bow down to the floor tiller stage. I have a knot I am worried about and I am having an issue with string tracking. Here are some pics.







I have saturated the knot with super glue a couple of times. It seems solid but is on the edge of a bending part of the limb. The crook in the end of the stave causes the string to track off the handle. I steamed it for about an hour and tried to bend it straight, but no luck. My only other option is trying to bend it at the handle. The handle is somewhat deflexed and I hoped to flip the tips. Can I get some recommendations from you guys on how to proceed?
« Last Edit: January 01, 2019, 10:00:55 am by lesken2011 »
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Kenny from Mississippi, USA

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2013, 10:37:43 am »
Lateral bends are pain Bulldog, they will fight you tooth and nail. Hate 'em with any other wood than osage as it stays put 99% of the time. Thats the same deal Ive been fighting with my yew bow. I still didnt win that battle, we called it a truce and I call it a bow now.
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Offline lesken2011

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2013, 10:53:21 am »
Thanks, Chris. What about that knot? Do you think it will be a problem?
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For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

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Kenny from Mississippi, USA

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2013, 10:56:56 am »
I doubt that know will matter if you used good glue. I trust good super glue more than good wood!
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blackhawk

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2013, 11:30:08 am »
Your steam set up there might not be adequate enough and looks in question to me...outdoors this time of year,and on a side burner of a grill might not be cranking enough heat n steam,and I see a lot of gap showing with the tin foil also....I'm not a big steamer(only for bending static recurves mostly),and use dry heat to make lateral corrections...I bet if you used dry heat and a form to pull it over and tempered it into reflex over the form it would correct just fine...just realize you have to go past a lil further than how far you need to move...especially with whitewoods because they'll spring back more than osage will.
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Offline lesken2011

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2013, 11:48:57 am »
Do you think I should work the dry heat in the handle area or the limb itself? I have a pretty even floor tiller, so far with the limb crooked, but I am a little concerned about flipping the tips on a crooked limb, given my limited experience with such matters.
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For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Kenny from Mississippi, USA

blackhawk

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2013, 01:09:01 pm »
Kenny.  I would try and make your string tracking correction in the handle....your trying to correct a natural crook in the wood...which usually doesn't fair so well..either its stubborn or will break trying to correct spots like that....as long as there's no knots or characterish grain in the handle do it there....you won't have to move the handle as far as you would the limb there to correct it..proper use of steam or dry heat should work....I can do a mock set up on how to correct at the handle and explain it later today if your not sure how to do it.
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Offline lesken2011

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2013, 01:11:37 pm »
I think I can figure it out. If I run into a problem, I'll let you know. Thanks for the help.
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For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Kenny from Mississippi, USA

Offline rossfactor

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2013, 01:15:05 pm »
For lateral bends, I place the inside edge  desired bending area in a padded vice, hang some weight (I use a 5 gallon bucket full of salt, cause hey, its heavy), on the outside portion, oil up the limb and slowly dry heat until the bow comes around. Key is slooowly. Let the bow cool with the weight on. I've convinced some stubborn lateral twist to go away with this method.

Gabe
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Offline lesken2011

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #9 on: March 04, 2013, 07:25:10 pm »
I have never tried heat bending with steam or dry heat till yesterday. I thought I had read that most people are successful with steam on white woods vs dry heat. I think I will try to use dry heat this time and make the bend in the handle. Will I need to let it re-hydrate?
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For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Kenny from Mississippi, USA

Offline Gus

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #10 on: March 04, 2013, 09:59:45 pm »
Good Thread,

Working a couple of CM bows myself...
I've had mixed results dialing in the Heat/Duration to get desired corrections so far...

I'm looking forward to your progress.

-gus
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Offline gstoneberg

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #11 on: February 14, 2014, 10:08:49 am »
Can I resurrect this thread?  Kenny and Gus (or anyone else), were you successful at heat bending crepe myrtle?  I worked on a crepe myrtle stave last night and tried valiantly (and vainly) to bend it with dry heat.  If I'd heated osage as much as I heated that little fiesty piece of wood it would have been a noodle.  The worst thing about it is the wood is so crowned I can't use my normal method of putting the wood in a vice  and hanging a bucket of rocks on it to apply the bending force.  I'm gonna try again tomorrow and I think I'll make plug to follow the crown of the back and allow me to chuck it in a vice.  I'm still not convinced I can bend it.

Thanks,
George
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Offline lesken2011

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #12 on: February 14, 2014, 12:54:52 pm »
Believe it or not, George, I wound up making another bow for my recipient, last year. I think I gave that stave to someone at Twin Oaks, last year, but may still have it in the shop, somewhere. I had decided to make some back to belly kerf cuts and glue in some thin slats while bending it straight, but never got around to it. I never had any luck with dry heat or steam on it. Let us know how yours turns out.

By the way, I picked up a large crepe myrtle stave yesterday along the road from some pruning that should make a couple of bows when it dries out. So I guess I will get to try again. This log is bigger and has a good, straight 3 foot section I think I will be able to get a couple of straight billets from.
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For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Kenny from Mississippi, USA

Offline Gus

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #13 on: February 14, 2014, 01:25:13 pm »
Hey Sir,

Have been working some CM lately.

High Crowned like yours.
I wound up Wrapping a Corton Diaper around mine to clamp it in my vice without damaging it.
Then used Dry Heat and Tung Oil to heat the handle area.
Used a bucket of rock for weight.
Took several hearts, but it worked...

-gus
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Crepe Myrtle - plan A
« Reply #14 on: February 14, 2014, 01:30:19 pm »
Try localized steaming George. If it doesn't work, nothing will. Marc explained it nicely in pics a few magazines ago. Basically wrap a damp cotton rag over the area, then wrap tin foil around it with room to breath and the ends sealed. Heat it up with your heat gun. When it starts steaming its working. Bend it to where it needs to be and let her cool.
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Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.
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