this sounds like a stupid question, but how should I apply heat to my osage stave?
I have used steam, a heat gun, hair dryer, and a microwave oven :bigsmyl: , they all worked fine. Only used steam with a green stave though, I learned the hard way (I'm a slow learner at times). The up side of using steam on a seasoned/dry stave is I learned how to use rawhide to back bows.
Any cheap paint stripping heat gun will work fine. I use a piece of aluminum angle as a reflecter to transfer the heat all the way around a stave. This cuts the heating time in half.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/staveheating.jpg)
I have my stave attatched to a board right now with c clamps, I have been applying heat and then tightening the clamps, cant tell if it going to work so far
Hey Eric,,, ever get burned on that angle? :eek:
Yep, when I knock it off the work bench and absent mindedly reach down to catch it.