Straightening a bowed stick/staff

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MrEd

Life Member
Feb 18, 2010
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i have been seasoning for almost a year, a nice piece of hazel to make into a thumb stick.

It’s almost perfectly straight with no kinks etc but where it’s been standing up in the corner of the shed it’s bowed slightly. About 1/2 inch outnin the middle.

I have been reading about steam and heat guns but I don’t want to go out and buy either just to straighten one stick.

Can I either:
a) clamp it against a straight steel bar and leave it for a while to encourage it true again?

b) put it between to rafters and hang just enough weight to straight then bow and check it regularly?

Any other tips or tricks/suggestions?

Thanks

Ed
 

Kepis

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 17, 2005
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Sussex
Ive held similar pieces in the steam of a boiling kettle and then gently persuaded them back to straight(ish)
 
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Kepis

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 17, 2005
6,689
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Cool, do you have to hold them for a certain time? Until they cool? Or so they hold their shape almost immediately?

Thanks for your reply :)

Ed

I rotate the stick in the steam so as to not concentrate the heat in one area and possibly lose the bark in that spot, but then hold the stick until it cools, either with thumb pressure on a small diameter or over my knee / a fulcrum for larger diameters, doesn't take long, you might have to repeat the process every now and then, eventually though it will stay put
 
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Bionic

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Mar 21, 2018
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I very carefully heat mine over the gas ring on our cooker. Keep it moving and obviously don’t get too close to the heat source. When it’s hot over the area you need to straighten bend it a fraction past straight, hold it there for a couple of minutes and hopefully you’ll have a straightened stick. The key is just to take it slow, steady and keep moving and rotating the stick to evenly heat it. :)
 
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Mesquite

It is what it is.
Mar 5, 2008
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Warm it either by hot heat or holding it over boiling water then clamp against something straigh. If you put a thin wedge in the middle of the bow so the staff flexs against it that will help as well.

Then leave for 24 hours and you should be ok.
 
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MrEd

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Warm it either by hot heat or holding it over boiling water then clamp against something straigh. If you put a thin wedge in the middle of the bow so the staff flexs against it that will help as well.

Then leave for 24 hours and you should be ok.

Okay. Which way is best, to clamp there middle (bowed bit upwards) down to the metal or to put the bowed bit against the metal then clamp the ends down? Or does it not matter?
 

Snake

Maker
Jan 5, 2017
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depending on the finish you are planing on, I have know people to alter the cast of a gun stock but poring boiling oil over it and gently applying pressure, would probably work much the same with a stick.
 
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Mesquite

It is what it is.
Mar 5, 2008
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~Hemel Hempstead~
Okay. Which way is best, to clamp there middle (bowed bit upwards) down to the metal or to put the bowed bit against the metal then clamp the ends down? Or does it not matter?

Personally I'd place the the bowed part to your straightening bar with the wedge under it and clamp the ends down to the bar so you flex it opposite to the way it was originally bowed.

It doesn't have to be an angle iron, a piece of 2"x2" will be more than adequate to help straighten it
 
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Robson Valley

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Nov 24, 2014
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Here is the correct wood science that you get to apply:
Wood consists of 3 things: cellulose microfibril, polyphenolic lignins and pectic substances.
The pectic substances are easily "plasticized" by heat.
That's the process, heat the pectic substances until they are very soft.
Now, bend the softened wood and clamp into a jig to cool in a different cellulose orientation.

I have done this with oak boat keels. Also paleo arrow shafts of wild rose, choke cherry and Saskatoon/Service berry.
Standard practice here is to build a steam chest and use hot wet steam as the heat transfer agent.
Clearly you know already that it's the heat, not the water, that's the active agent.
We use sections of rainwater downspout metal tubing and an electric kettle at the bottom end.
The control valve at the top end is a cloth rag.
 

MrEd

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Feb 18, 2010
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Surrey/Sussex
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Here is the correct wood science that you get to apply:
Wood consists of 3 things: cellulose microfibril, polyphenolic lignins and pectic substances.
The pectic substances are easily "plasticized" by heat.
That's the process, heat the pectic substances until they are very soft.
Now, bend the softened wood and clamp into a jig to cool in a different cellulose orientation.

I have done this with oak boat keels. Also paleo arrow shafts of wild rose, choke cherry and Saskatoon/Service berry.
Standard practice here is to build a steam chest and use hot wet steam as the heat transfer agent.
Clearly you know already that it's the heat, not the water, that's the active agent.
We use sections of rainwater downspout metal tubing and an electric kettle at the bottom end.
The control valve at the top end is a cloth rag.

Thanks all.

I have had an idea, my mother in law has a wallpaper stripper she says I can have and I have a bunch of field drain pipe (heavy plastic perforated pipe) - I think I will trying wrapping over the perforations in duck tape and using the wallpaper stripper at one end and a towel over the other with the stick inside.

Thanks for all your advice gents, appreciated, will post photos of how I get on!
 
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MrEd

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Feb 18, 2010
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depending on the finish you are planing on, I have know people to alter the cast of a gun stock but poring boiling oil over it and gently applying pressure, would probably work much the same with a stick.

I was planning on oiling it with BLO after as I have some from refinishing a stock and I like the dark colour it takes on. Not sure I want to mess with boiling oil though lol, but I have heard of the same thing to correct stick errors, not sure on the degree of movement you can get though.
 

MrEd

Life Member
Feb 18, 2010
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Personally I'd place the the bowed part to your straightening bar with the wedge under it and clamp the ends down to the bar so you flex it opposite to the way it was originally bowed.

It doesn't have to be an angle iron, a piece of 2"x2" will be more than adequate to help straighten it

Cheers bud, will do it the way you describe, thanks :)
 

Robson Valley

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Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
Hot oil works well. Gunsmiths the world over do that.
Once again, the oil is no more than the heat transfer agent to soften the pectic substances.

We have interior car warmers. You set this 1.5kW device on a heavy duty timer to come on for a couple of hours
at -40C to thaw out the interior of your car/truck on really ****.ty Canadian winter mornings.
Essentially a really hot toaster and a little fan.
They are ideal for heating paleo arrow shafts for straightening.
 

Snake

Maker
Jan 5, 2017
107
52
North Wilts
Hot oil works well. Gunsmiths the world over do that.
Once again, the oil is no more than the heat transfer agent to soften the pectic substances.

We have interior car warmers. You set this 1.5kW device on a heavy duty timer to come on for a couple of hours
at -40C to thaw out the interior of your car/truck on really ****.ty Canadian winter mornings.
Essentially a really hot toaster and a little fan.
They are ideal for heating paleo arrow shafts for straightening.


I thought you just had block heaters in the water jacket on the engine and you just plug the vehicle in over night.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
Block heaters. That is a fact. My 454 is a big crank at -25C so I run synthetic jet lube as well.
The viscosity does not change, even down to -60C where jet engines thrive.

An interior car warmer screws to the lower edge of the dash and you feed the cord out the firewall.
Not too hard to find if you cruise a lot of garage/yard sales (climate change?)
As I said, like a really hot toaster with a fan. In this day and time, some vehicle brands have heated seats as an option,
even Harley Davidson.
Honestly, a folded up fuzzy blanket on the seat (cloth or not) is just as effective.

Sure works well as a heat source for batches 30-40 fresh/green arrow shafts.
I watched one guy take a bad one, got it hot and tied it in a knot just for fun.
 

MrEd

Life Member
Feb 18, 2010
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okay I have straightened the thumb stick, as much as i want to, i have still left some kinks in it as i kinda like it.

here is some photos.

Plastic drain pipe, does work as a steam chamber, but not upright as it sags! Laid down it works fine as the steam pressure appeared to keep it 'open'

IMG_3979-resized-e1546192791262.jpg




Worked just fine laid down flat
IMG_3980-resized-e1546192806235.jpg


I did initially clamp it to a piece of metal bar, but tbh, i found it easier to just bend it over my knee....

Here is the before showing the bow in the wood
IMG_3974-resized-e1546192697475.jpg


and here is the after, i have also very lightly sanded then oiled the wood. I didnt use BLO in the end, just vegetable oil.
IMG_4021-resized-e1546192882289.jpg


I am going to make a leather grip for it and burn my initials in and maybe fit a rubber (or leather) piece on the end of the stick.

Thanks for you advice chaps, much appreciated.

Ed
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
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McBride, BC
I love that. Thanks for the pictures. Straightened out just as much as you wanted.

A spoke shave would give you a smoother surface (like making buggy wheel spokes.)
A crooked knife would cut little chips to texture the surface if you wanted to go that way.
Pyrographic decoration is common here. Animals and such.

There are some serious stick and cane guilds in the UK
so I know for sure that any and all fittings are available.
 

MrEd

Life Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,148
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Surrey/Sussex
www.thetimechamber.co.uk
I love that. Thanks for the pictures. Straightened out just as much as you wanted.

A spoke shave would give you a smoother surface (like making buggy wheel spokes.)
A crooked knife would cut little chips to texture the surface if you wanted to go that way.
Pyrographic decoration is common here. Animals and such.

There are some serious stick and cane guilds in the UK
so I know for sure that any and all fittings are available.

I was looking at a spoke shave actually, there is a very good second hand tool place near me that sells old quality stuff. Will pick one up. Cheers :)

I took the bark off AFTER seasoning it for a year, much hard but the wood didnt split this time, last one i tried to do i stripped the bark straight away and the wood split as it was drying :(
 

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