Advice on Bending Osage Orange

[Brumbies Country]

I've put together an Osage ELB 68" in length complete with horn nocks. The string falls just outside the right hand side of the handle. I'm a right handed archer and if it fell anywhere off centre I'd rather it fractionally to the left. Its made from spliced billets. Bottom limb is straight; top limb bends from the splice to halfway up the limb to the right.

I put it over a boiling pot of water last night with foil over the top for around an hour. Using a Jim Hamm method demonstrated in the TBB I stuck it in the fork of a tree, bent the bow to the left and held it in place with a substantial rock. Took it out this morning and it hadn't straitened one iota. The same method with a piece of black locust a couple of weeks ago produced some result. I felt the heat to touch may have been greater in the black locust.

I guess I need affirmation that steam bending works OK with Osage; can't see why it wouldn't. Guess I need to be dragged into the 21st century and use some G clamps (they were quite likely used in the 19th ).

Advice re length of steaming period and appropriate methodology would be welcome.

Simon

[Stickbow Hunter]

Simon,

With the help of Dennis La Varenne I have steamed Osage a few times. It has to be steamed for awhile and I would have thought you did it long enough. My understanding is you have to bend the wood until it stops resiting; you will suddenly feel it give and you bend it to where you want it and then let it cool. I can tell ya that it is rather unnerving at first when you feel it suddenly give.

Jeff

[Brumbies Country]

Thanks Jeff

I've got it on the stove again now. If it gives I wont panic . I actually bought a couple of new G clamps on the way home, but with a bit more inspection its going to be bent round my workbench, a mower and a tin of estapol but with the accent on bending where the bend in the upper limb begins.

Simon

[Hamish]

Hi Simon, I've never tried this on a already tillered bow, but have done it often on floor tillered bending blanks. Buy yourself a heat gun. Not a good idea to use wet heat on an already tillered bow.
You should scrape off any finsih you alredy have as you can easily cause cracks in the wood as the air inside the cells expands, but can't escape . I usually apply parrafin wax as it allows the heat to soak in better, without causing any cracks. Others use cooking oil, bacon grease, lard, etc
Keep heating the area back and forth over the area on all sides until it is too hot to touch with a bare hand. (keep the heat away from the glued splice)Clamp the tip in a vice, with soft jaws and bend the wood in the direction, until its a little further than where you want it, as it will spring back a bit, even when it has cooled.

Have a mate pour water on the limb whilst you are holding it in place. You can either use a hose or a watering can. This will allow the limb to cool and set more quickly, otherwise you might have to wait 1/2 hr or an hour for it to return to ambient temperature. Keep checking the feel of the wood. If there is still heat emanating from the inside of the wood pour more water on it.

When cool, wipe off the water, repeat heating /bending on the other limb. Wait at least a day before bracing to check string alignment. If you are happy with it, unstring it and let it rest a week, before re stringing and slowly redrawing it 10-20 times to a short draw, checking alignment. If all goes well and the string is on track slowly increase the draw, continually checking alignment after each 10-20 draws, until you reach full draw.

If it goes back towards its original shape any time during the process you may have to reheat it again. However if you reheat it again without restraining the limb in its current position it will revert all the way back to its original postion.
Osage is an awesome wood to bend with heat.
Hamish.

[Brumbies Country]

Hi Simon, I've never tried this on a already tillered bow, but have done it often on floor tillered bending blanks. Buy yourself a heat gun. Not a good idea to use wet heat on an already tillered bow.
You should scrape off any finsih you alredy have as you can easily cause cracks in the wood as the air inside the cells expands, but can't escape . I usually apply parrafin wax as it allows the heat to soak in better, without causing any cracks. Others use cooking oil, bacon grease, lard, etc
Keep heating the area back and forth over the area on all sides until it is too hot to touch with a bare hand. (keep the heat away from the glued splice)Clamp the tip in a vice, with soft jaws and bend the wood in the direction, until its a little further than where you want it, as it will spring back a bit, even when it has cooled.

Have a mate pour water on the limb whilst you are holding it in place. You can either use a hose or a watering can. This will allow the limb to cool and set more quickly, otherwise you might have to wait 1/2 hr or an hour for it to return to ambient temperature. Keep checking the feel of the wood. If there is still heat emanating from the inside of the wood pour more water on it.

When cool, wipe off the water, repeat heating /bending on the other limb. Wait at least a day before bracing to check string alignment. If you are happy with it, unstring it and let it rest a week, before re stringing and slowly redrawing it 10-20 times to a short draw, checking alignment. If all goes well and the string is on track slowly increase the draw, continually checking alignment after each 10-20 draws, until you reach full draw.

If it goes back towards its original shape any time during the process you may have to reheat it again. However if you reheat it again without restraining the limb in its current position it will revert all the way back to its original postion.
Osage is an awesome wood to bend with heat.
Hamish.

Thanks Hamish

Luckily the bow doesn't have any finish on it. My second attempt at moist heat was no more successful than my first. So I've had the bow hanging around for more than a week, and I keep thinking I have to do something with this. So your email is very timely. Luckily I don't appear to have wrecked the tiller with the steam. I'll get a heat gun and have a go. I'd read a little about dry heat but not enough to feel confident to run with it. This gives me a good way to go.

Simon