Riser laminations

[mzombek]

I have seen most of the risers that you bowyers make are different types of wood and accent strips. Some of these risers look when made, that they had to be cut and glued up a few times and placed back into the hot box. How many times can the riser be returned to the hot box before it becomes a problem with delamination?

[CardboardDuck]

I don't have much experience with putting accent strips in risers, but I think as long as a heat tolerant glue is used and there is always clamping pressure on the riser when it is in the hotbox it shouldn't be a problem.

[kennym]

Yep, I do the several times glue up. I just clamp it so the latest joint and the earlier ones are held tight. Sometimes it takes a lot of clamps and some creative clamping.

[rmorris]

I have had more problems during glueing of risers in a hot box with exposed end grain checking than I have had with glue joint failure. Typically on my multiple step risers for take down bow I do the hot box at a nice 120 degrees for an hour or two then let it sit for 24 hours. On the one piece bows I glue up each step with no heat and then only use heat when I glue up the entire bow.

[Crooked Stic]

Same for me. I put them in a preheated hotbox for a couple of hours and work on them the next day. I have done several TD risers that never seen the hotbox that are doing fine.

[Bivyhunter]

My Striker handle goes in the oven 3X's. If you smear a thin coat of glue over the all of the exposed end grain on the handle, it'll keep it from checking.

[Dmaxshawn]

Thanks for the tip South.

[rmorris]

South, I will try that. I typically oversize the length of my risers by 1/2" if they are going to go in the hot box before final glue up. I then cut them down to size, removing the checked wood.

[Glunt]

If I get one that checks, I just pretend that I wanted it 17.5" instead of 18" 'cause I'm prototyping :^)