Tip Twist ... Advise Please? Photo's Added

[ChristopherO]

Hello Gang,
I am in the final stages of tillering a sinew backed pignut hickory static recurve.  It is falling into place pretty well except under weight but I think I can take care of that with an other layer of sinew or two.  
My issue is that one limb tip wants to twist when drawn.  I've left the tips wide at this point but that is quite a bit of twist to take out just by cutting one nock deeper.  Other than heating and trying to correct is there other routes to go?  I can try the heat correcting but I've run into over compensating with that in the past.  If necessary I can always remove an inch from the nock points but really don't want to.  
Thanks for the imput.
Christopher

[George Tsoukalas]

Cutting the nock in further is for tracking the string better on the handle. You either have to heat it (tough with sinew) or remove wood from the side that is not twisting. Twists towards weak side.  Be sure you understand what I mean before doing it.    Jawge

[ChristopherO]

Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea.
First is the profile of the recurve:
 

Next is the belly of the recurve and the pencil marks that outline where the string returned to after the bow was drawn.  
 

Which side of the limb do you believe is too strong, Right Or Left looking at this picture?
Thank you,
Christopher

[John Scifres]

It looks crooked.  Only one way to fix that...get out the heat.

[Pat B]

That's the fun with recurves. Like John said,  Heat! Sometimes you might have to heat and straighten or line-up the tips 3 or 4 times before they are right. Sometimes not.
   As I am bending curves I will twist and turn the body of the bow to insure it is all lined up right off the bat. This helps but sometimes I still have to reheat and untwist. Be sure your form is square too.

[ChristopherO]

I was afraid you'd say something like that.  I can do it and have done it but it is a buger.
It appears straight when unflexed but when the tension is on it pulls pretty hard.
On my osage recurve it was off some and with heat it was off less.  I tillered that bow before backing with sinew.  After it was held in reflex in the form for a month drying it came out perfect.  This bow is being tillered after backing.  Oh, the joys of recurves.

[Pat B]

Is it twisted unbraced? Braced? and at full draw(or as you draw)?  If so, it is probably one side of that limb is stronger than the other. If that's the case you won't need the heat. Scrape a bit off the strong side and see how that does.

[ChristopherO]

No twist until it is pulled back in tension by drawing the string.  The string can be lined up just fine until the string is pulled.  The twist appears to go down the limb a little bit, too.
Now looking at the pencil line which side would you say is the strong side?

[Art B]

Your strong side would be the pencil mark side Christopher. Not sure if that would be your problem or not though. Could be the bend itself doing the twisting (could the tip have been torqued, as in not pulling straight down on the tillering tree?). But no matter what the problem needs to fixed with heat. Problem is, you don't want to do any heating close to your bend or it'll relax out on you. If you have to heat and twist the bend itself you'll have to put it back in your form for that (use a narrow form). Just watch out and don't scorch the back of your bow with blow-back from the heat gun.

Just curious, did you pull the bow on the tillering tree/board? With these types of recurves, if you torque the bow any at all while drawing you're apt to twist the tips. Gotta come straight back/down at all times! Best to just get your regular string on as so as possible and draw by hand instead of using a board. Good luck.

 ART B

[ChristopherO]

Thanks Art,
I used a stringer carefully and took pains to pull it straight by hand and on the tree.  I added the short string as soon as the limbs began to bend properly.  
I'll keep at it and see if I can get it working well.
My first attempt at recurving did this and recently I pulled that bow out, shortened the tips by an inch and it strengthened it up just fine.  I'm hoping to keep the full 4" tip but if I have to pare it down I can.
Thanks again,
Christopher