I watched some of these videos and I am interested in trying the techniques with quick drying and fire hardening hickory. I am guessing Shannon and Beckum are on to something. It made sense to me.
I haven't done it with flame, but I did my last one with a heat gun, and I feel like it prevented string follow from getting worse. I didn't cover it in the video cuz it was the first time, but it was this one and it kept string follow from getting worse than it did in the first tiller.
I don’t fire hard wood but it do use a heat gun on it. Don’t scorch it though. I usually do that when straightening the limbs. Then remove that during tiller.
I’ve never tried the fire hardened or even watch the videos but I’m thinking some woods probably would respond well. I really scorch my HHB with heat gun and it definitely changes the wood. You can feel the different when scraping it. Smells good to.
I get a little time I’ll have to watch the videos.
I have fire hardened a half dozen of them. Hickory, elm, white oak and Walnut. Their seems to be some advantages to it. Hickory responded the best, and elm ,and white oak was OK. Walnut not so much.
As I understand it the cells in wood are called lignigns, with any application of heat you melt these lignigns and reconfigure them.
The same in reverse would be to apply undue stress into a wood bow limb and crush the ligmigns causing a loss of poundage, performance and possibly string follow.
This can occur if you draw a bow past the target draw length and poundage while tillering. If you are making a 50# bow you don't want to overdraw the bow to 60# because you are crushing lignigns that would be functioning for strength at 50#.
It’s the same way a corn cob is attached to its shank. At certain stages in the corns growth and in certain environmental conditions the lingigns are weak and the corn stalk can drop its ears. Not something you want. As it matures and dries down more the lingigns get stronger.
I’m guessing it’s what holds the fibers and grain together in wood. I suspect it is changed and in some woods that change can improve it.
I have made a couple and have to say there is something to it. Even after fire hardening hickory will take on moisture. I found Odies oil worked very well as di an epoxy finish. All of the spray on stuff did nothing. However our humidity is always super high
I could be wrong but I think Marc puts pine pitch on. I think he gets belly really hot with heat gun then touch’s it with pine sap and it melts right in.
Sorry I’m not talking fire hardened here, just trying to give something to compare. Thinking it might really help hickory.
I have made a few after watching the video several times. Controlling the heat is tough. You can't get the same results with a heat gun according to the video. You can certainly burn up a good bow blank if you get distracted.
Being able to make a finished quality wood self bow from a green sapling to a finished bow in such a short period of time is the biggest advantage of this system to me. No sealing, and seasoning involved.
If I ever get back into making bows which I doubt I will there is one method of hardening I always wanted to perfect. This would primarily be for boo backed bows. I would like to find the temperature that a particular smell starts coming out of the wood.( I think it is around 260 degrees.) It smells like something might be melting. But anyway I would heat treat a board like that and hold it at the temp for maybe an hour or so before I cut it up and used it for belly lams on boo backed bows.
I've always wanted to make a tri-lam bow. I bet it would work great to heat treat the thinner laminations prior to gluing up. Wish I had the time to try these things, hopefully soon.
Badger, that sucks you dont make bows nowadays. You had potential :^)... should have paced yourself. Saw it right off :^)
Live2hunt, I've made many trilams. They're great. But I have yet to try, or need, heat treating lams prior to glue up. I'll keep it in mind though. Food for thought.
