Homemade Recurve / Flatbow - 1st attempt

[JD1]

I thought the hungarian recurved hunting bows were shaped after steaming the wood for some hours first ???

With green wood it can often have enough moisture in it so it is not always necessary, you can clamp it and dry it out. Although my bit wasn't green I thought it had enough moisture in it but was mistaken.

Using a steam bath the recommendation is to steam it for 20 minutes and then bend/clamp while drying it over a heat source. If sinew is added, like on a lot of primitive recurves, that can help the bow hold its shape as it dries as well as adding strength.

I'm not going down the sinew route this time as i'm having enough trouble as it is