# hickory recurve



## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

im making my first self bow and am using a 67in piece of hickory. i was wanting to make a recurve even though ive been advised not to for my first bow. though, i was wondering if its possible to recurve a flat hickory bow without it taking on too much set, and was wondering how thick and wide i should make it to be flat?


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

The biggest issue with recurves is getting them to not twist when you bend them in. So, the easiest way to accomplish that is to thelve them full width and cut the profile AFTER you bend them with steam over a form.

Set can be avoided by leaving the limbs 2" wide full length. I make my bows all 5/8" outside the fades tapering to 3/8" at the tips. Do this before you bend. After recuving, do an arching tapering to 1/2" wide nocks. Make sure the recurves track straight when you cut the profile.


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

ya, ive already cut out the profile, which i guess i shouldnt have done first. though, ive heard that one should floor tiller the bow, atleast, into a workable piece before recurving. but , you are saying that to avoid set, leave the limbs as wide as possible after final tillering? i have my limbs now at ~= 1.75-1.85inches at the fadouts and about 5/8-3/4 at the tips. i was also going to build a form from a solid piece of wood and cut the desired shape out of it and cut a section out for the handle, since i was planning on decurving the middle also.


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

Don't get me wrong, you CAN recurve narrowed tips. YOu just have to be a bit more careful about how the bow twists when you bend it around the form. 3/4" is plenty wide.

I like 2" because you can narrow it later, but I've used 1 3/4" on alot of my straight bows- even heavier ones that should have been wider (over 75#). What you have should be fine even up to about 65#, and deflex through the handle should help that.

The issue with pre-tillering the bow you want to build is you are about to change it's profil. The deflex, if it goes inot the limbs at all, will make them act weaker than you originally had, while the recurves will stiffen the outter limbs. This ins't much of an issue, as you'll just tiller it all back to normal later, but right now it means that tiller is much less important than simply making sure the limbs are even and balanced.

As for your recurving form, I'd suggest against hardwoods. I use a pine block, and it's much gentler on tips and what not.


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

phew. i thought i was in a pickle. i went to a local traditional archery store and the guy was shaking his head and telling me that i couldnt do anything with it ans was saying how i cant recurve hickory. then he tried to sell me a bow and sign me up for a bowyer coarse. ya, i was going to build one out of 2x4s. theyre pine im sure. ya, i was going to rig up another form at 90deg to the other form to try and remove any twisting if i need to. i also have two more hickory staves that are workable for a long bow and an asiatic recurve, since the wood already curves for an asiatic. i was worried about trying to recurve the one bow since i wasnt sure if it was feasible. 

thanks


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## Chris Wilson (Aug 16, 2005)

dbcoopersurvuvd said:


> phew. i thought i was in a pickle. i went to a local traditional archery store and the guy was shaking his head and telling me that i couldnt do anything with it ans was saying how i cant recurve hickory.


Can't recurve hickory? That's news to me.




























Kegan's giving given you good advice.


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

ya, sounded crazy to me too, because ive heard of recurved hickory in forums and the traditional bowyers bible. also, my tips have a little more of a pronounced recurve to it than yours and start a little further toward the fadeouts. i dont have any definitive, set, directions for forming a bow of that kind and size so im going by the dimensions of a fred bear bow, more or less, that my buddy has thats 56'. though, ive seen asiatics thta are a lot more recurved than mine. and smaller. also. about how far should i make the handle area from the ground if the bow is sitting on the ground with the tips pointing up? or rather the measure of the decurve?


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

by the way chris, whats the dimensions of your bow, and poundage?


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

Thank you Chris!

As for the amount deflex, a little bit goes a long way with wood- especially if you can get the deflex into the unbending handle section. On my R/D form, I put in about 1" of deflex at midlimb (measure on the back- the midlimbs are an inch, or less, behind the handle). The wood will compact to a degree on its own, but that little bit of deflex helps the inner limbs from becoming too stressed.


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

cool. so, 1in above the midlimb is a good deflex? no more? also, what is a good degree of recurve at the tips? on the form, i have the tips to be bent around a 16cm radius to about 11.5cm above where the curve starts


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

Tonight I'll get a picture of my R/D for and a bow bent to shape. It'll be easier to see than envision. As for how much recurve, that's up to you. More means more stress, and a faster arrow. Just a little trickier to tiller and needs more wood to prevent overstress (my arch-nemesis).


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

so, final question. how should one go about bending the bow without breaking it?


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

Steam! I put a pot of water on to boil and put the wood to be bent over the steam. I put aluminum foil over this and let it sit 30-45 minutes.


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

awesome. i wasnt sure if it was better to boil or steam the tips. thanks a lot


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

Here's the R/D I did most recently. As you can see, the deflex is slight, little more than a stress reliever in through the handle. The picture isn't the best, sorry about that.

Also my own personal recurving form. As you can see, when I recurve I go for big curves:lol:


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

looks sweet. ya, i guess i want too far off then. so, you said before that it is better to recurve before roughing in the bow, i.e., with the limbs 2in wide and, say, 5/8in thick?


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

Do it after ytou rough the bow out, before you rough in the final shape. Make the otter limbs thin though, to avoid cracks.


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

gotcha. thanks for all of the advice


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## Chris Wilson (Aug 16, 2005)

dbcoopersurvuvd said:


> by the way chris, whats the dimensions of your bow, and poundage?


The first on is 62" nock to nock. 2" wide limbs to mid limb then tapering down to 1/2" at the nocks. It pulled 54#@28". The bottom one was 56" ntn, 2" wide limbs. It pulled 44#@28".


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

is it possible to get one 60' ntn and about 60-80lbs?


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

also, how should i , and should i, break in the bow before recurving it


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

dbcoopersurvuvd said:


> also, how should i , and should i, break in the bow before recurving it


Nope- bad idea. I recently broke a hickory longbow in, and when I tried to retemper the belly and put a little reflex back into the limbs- I got cracks. The compression the belly experiences after breaking in is permanent, and can't be bent without visual damage.

Best to recurve well before the short string makes an appearence.


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

well, i have it knifed down to the one growth ring and i'm about to cut it down to 2'' wide and 1/2'' deep, and then, probably, tomorrow i am going to boil/steam and recurve and straighten it. then ill post some pics if it doesnt go to crap on me.


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

oh, again, i was wondering if its feasible to make a 60-80lbs recurve out of hickory?


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

dbcoopersurvuvd said:


> oh, again, i was wondering if its feasible to make a 60-80lbs recurve out of hickory?


Very feasible. I'm shooting an 80# longbow out of hickory- with too-narrow limbs to boot. 

Your limbs seem to be in good order. You'd be suprised how easily recurves can be bent with steam. Good luck!


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

thanks for the info and the help. much appriciated


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## dbcoopersurvuvd (Sep 18, 2009)

btw, whats is a good time frame to steam bows at?


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

dbcoopersurvuvd said:


> btw, whats is a good time frame to steam bows at?


1" thick= 1 hour.

I steam recurves and hard bend for about 45 minutes. I don't remove them from the form for a day.


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