Steaming -- How long to Wait to Tiller?

[YosemiteSam]

I had to steam bend the handle of an ash stave to get it straightened out.  The handle is pretty thick so it sat over the steam pot for a long time.  Of course, some of the wood near the fades got steamed as well.  About how many days should I wait before I can put stress on the limbs and start tillering?  A week?  2 weeks?

Outside, we're at about 35-40% humidity.  I keep the stave in the house but, being blessed by beautiful weather lately, the windows & doors are at least partially open 24/7.

[BMorv]

Wow, 35-40% humidity sounds awesome.  South Louisiana is like a sauna right now.  Still waiting for "fall" to kick in.
I had the same question when I steamed an elm stave a few months ago.  I couldn't seem to find a definite answer as I'm sure there are many variables at stake.  The consensus seemed to be somewhere in your time frame, 1 week to 2 weeks.  I believe I let mine sit for a week inside and then continued tillering, and it worked fine.

[YosemiteSam]

Originally posted by BMorv:
Wow, 35-40% humidity sounds awesome.  South Louisiana is like a sauna right now.  Still waiting for "fall" to kick in.
I had the same question when I steamed an elm stave a few months ago.  I couldn't seem to find a definite answer as I'm sure there are many variables at stake.  The consensus seemed to be somewhere in your time frame, 1 week to 2 weeks.  I believe I let mine sit for a week inside and then continued tillering, and it worked fine.

Thank you!

Yea, the valley is nice this time of year.  I can finally crawl out of my air-conditioned office and enjoy the yard for a change.

[Pat B]

I'd think in your climate a week should be sufficient but 2 would be better.

[YosemiteSam]

I can wait an extra week.  I can get the floor tillering a little better and do my heat treatment on the belly for now.

[PEARL DRUMS]

24 hours is twice as long as Id wait.

[Eric Krewson]

It depends on how hot you get the limb. I heated treated a bow and turned it pretty brown in the process. I strung the bow right away and it popped a splinter at one of my brown spots.

I give them a few days now to rehydrate and have put wet towels on a serious heat treat for an hour or so just to be safe.

[T Folts]

2 weeks to be safe

[Mo_coon-catcher]

At least so far anyway, I've never had a problem stringing up anything the next day. Heat treat, dry bending, and streaming. As soon as their cool I get then bending. Though because of my schedule, I usually end up hearing the bow either before work or before bed, so it sits a minimum of a day before I get back to it. Sometimes a couple if I'm busy from sunup to sundown for a few days.
The only problem I've ran into steaming is due to my method. Where I wrap the spot in a wet rag, wrap in foil, then boil wth a heat gun. If you don't seal the wood the water from the rag will soak in before it gets hot and will make LOTS of micro splits once you remove the foil and all the boiling/steaming moisture leaves at once.


Kyle