First of all I need to apologize, the Hickory bow is 56” not 48”. I took a piece of of 2 X 4 the length of the bow, nailed a couple of 2” blocks on the ends. Wet the last 8 to 10” of the tips, wrapped wet rags around then, put the tips on the blocks, clamped it to the form, one clamp in the center to hold it down and put it in the heat box for about 6 hours at 160 or so and let it cool over night. I did it to try and bump the weight a little, it did, a little.
With six grand kids they will get a work out, will make bigger ones as they grow and the little ones will work into these.
TBKII