Dry heat bending

[Wolftrail]

I know maple takes dry heat well for bending. Does Hickory take dry heat well...?
Another question is it better to heat the belly or back while bending a bow with dry heat..?

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Always heat from the belly side. If you accidentally a or u the wood on the back, it'll loose tension strength and break there. On the belly side, it will raise the compression strength. A light shade change won't so much, but it it goes black, things break.
Hickory LOVES dry heat. It bends easy with it,  and when you heat treat the belly, will make it much faster, less set and a more stabile hickory bow.

Kyle

[Pat B]

In my experience hickory takes dry heat tempering well but not dry heat bending. I've had recurves, reflex and straightenings come out after using dry heat with hickory. I think steam will give you better results for more severe bending. Dry heat might be OK for minor adjustments. If you decide to go with steam seal the back with shellac. Shellac can take the heat and moisture where other sealers won't.

[Robyn Hode]

I agree with Pat I prefer steam bending hickory over dry heat and heat tempering will remove reflex. It happened to me on my last hickory bow.

[Eric Krewson]

I have several hickory bow blanks that took a dogleg in the handle. I have heat corrected one at least 5 times, leave it alone for a few days and it goes back to it's former configuration.

[Wolftrail]

Thnx guys, those dog legs are miserable bends no doubt.

[Carson81]

I haven't had much experience with heat bending hickory, but with stubborn yew it works well to steam bend it into place and then give it a thorough heat tempering on the belly side of the bend to keep it from moving back. Like Pat, I use shellac to seal the wood before bending.