Anyone try bending green hickory?

[canopyboy]

How does it work?

I was trying to rough out a bow from a green log as described in TBB.  Noticed just how pliable it was and slapped it up on a board with some clamps to see what would happen.

Now I just need to wait for it to dry a bit.

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[Jeremy]

Never done it myself, but one of the TBB describes doing just that.

[canopyboy]

Yeah, I can't say this was an original idea, just wondered if anyone here had tried it and what kind of results they got.

And of course anything I should be looking out for.

[walkabout]

actually one section in one of the bowyers bibles also says that staves that take reflex while drying are really"pretending" and will lose that reflex.from personal experience, i had a hickory stave that dried with roughly 3" of reflex in it, then after floor tillering it was almost completely gone, so it went on a caul to gain 3" or so of reflex back.

[canopyboy]

Yeah, but I'm thinking stave reflex from the stresses induced during drying/shrinkage are different than putting on a caul when soft and pliable (and close to floor tiller).  I'm hoping this is more like boiling or steaming wood.

Well, I'll know soon enough I guess.