Sweating a bow

[Pat B]

I know most folks exercise their wood bows as they tiller them. How many sweat their bows once you get a good tiller?
 By sweating I mean brace the bow and let it rest for a while braced.  Once I get a bow to low brace and I know the tiller is right I will leave it braced for 45 minutes to an hour. As the tillering progresses the sweat time increases. By the time the tillering is done I will leave it braced for a few hours at least.
  The reason I do this is when I'm sitting on stand or am at a 3D shoot my bow stays braced for hours at a time and I want to be sure it can take it.

[PEARL DRUMS]

I do it on all my bows Pat. Its working its butt off just laying there low braced. It will also tell you how snappy your bow will be. Some snap right back quickly after a good workout and some stay a touch limp for a longer time.

[Art B]

Yep, same here. It lets the bow bleed off some inital weight. Late, after well shot in, a minimum of 6 hrs string time to make sure it'll hold up for 3D and hunting.

[DVSHUNTER]

I do all the time while building.  I still string up old bows and give em a few pulls and leave em strung for a few hours so they stay elastic.  I dont know if it helps or hurts but it eases my mind.

[David Flanrey]

Great thread.  Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Roy from Pa]

Ifin you first 4 boys knew how to make a bow, ya all wouldn't have to sweat it. LMAO

[wood carver 2]

Is this recomended only for self bows or can it be done with all wood or wood/bamboo bows?
Dave.

[Pat B]

Any wood bow Carver. The same principles apply to all wood bows.
  Roy I sweat my bows but not the process!  d;^)

[Steve Kendrot]

You can leave 'em strung!!! Wish someone had told me!  Here I was waiting for the deer to get within 30 yards to string my bow and kept gettin busted!!  JK

Actually I ruined my first successful BBO leaving it strung. I made a new string and was serving it. Forgot to unstrung the now before I went to bed and forgot until I got home from work he next day. Unstrung it and, just to "undo" some of the damage I was afraid I'd done leaving it strung for 20 hours, I backflexed it just a tad. "crack" lateral crack across the belly. Valuable lesson about trying to stretch compression wood. :-(

[Pat B]

20 hours is a bit much but 4 or 5 or more is OK. When hunting I string my bow when I leave camp and unstring it when I come in or run out of shooting light. In Colorado that was from sun up to sun down. I had no ill effects to my 60" osage static recurve. As soon as I loose shooting light in the evenings I unbrace it.

[broketooth]

pat, i did sweat the 2 piece that i made , as per your advice. i dont regret it. i would do it again with no hesitation. i think what you have suggested is important to the longevity of a selfbow. rv

[John Scifres]

yes

[k-hat]

I will now  

[Traxx]

This is an old Practice,that used to be common.It has somehow been forgotten about and neglected,by most.

[Adam Keiper]

I'm with you, Pat.  Once a bow is done, (especially if it's a hunting bow), it will be braced for long periods all season long.  I don't want the tiller to change from normal use, like long periods at brace or from shooting.  When the tillering is maybe 5# overweight, I give it a long stringing, usually overnight. I also shoot at least 100 arrows from the bow, to be sure the actual bending settles the wood, too.  Shooting a few thousand arrows probably has the same break-in affect, but this way is faster.    

[Walt Francis]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no, it depends on how the bow feels while tillering and if there is time to shoot it in.  Most often, I leave the bow  strung while tillering, which gives it a continuous sweat for the entire session.  When the bow is tillered most the set and/or additional weight loss is done.  Most of my bows do not get there final finish until they have been strung for a couple of hours and/or shot several hundred arrows; it is the best way I have found to make the final  tillering adjustments.

[coaster500]

Never even heard the term until now? It should be added to the newbie vocabulary list that has been a great help for those of us new to this. I didn't do this to my trade bows but did take them out strung up on a couple of range trips for a few hours?

Oh well one more tidbit for my bowyer bucket