steaming wood arrows

[teddybear]

has any 1 steamed a wood arrow to straten it,
how long should i keep it on the cetle.
and i think i bend it by hand

[Haywain]

Depends on the wood, spine of the shaft etc. POC shafts can often be straightened without steaming, they have some sort of "memory" which makes it easier to get them back in shape. Pine shafts just need to be supple enough to bend back into shape and only time and error in the steam can help.

The most I steam these days are my fletchings when out of shape, but I find using a pot of water, covered with tin foil and hole in the centre as large as your finger, easier to use than a kettle. Especially as most these days switch off after they get hot. You can steam to your hearts content that way.

[Dreadnaught]

I wouldn't recomend steaming at all, it raises moisture content in the wood, can make it heavier & softer than the rest of the set at least for a while. Its easy to over do it then it behaves like green wood, (you bend it, it stays like it, bent the opposite way, all spring gone). I always warm mine gently with a hot air paint stripper. Perhaps it could be argued that this would have the opposite effect and dry the wood but I have never had this problem but cirtainly have had problems steaming.
Hope this is helpful,
Best regards
Dreadnaught

[Trunkles]

There is a video on Richard Head's website
FAQ

[steve58]

That's a good video link Trunkles!

Teddy Bear, I had the same question a while ago, if you search this part of the forum you will come up with alternative methods of straightening arrows.

This all begs the question "how straight do they need to be?" The reason I ask is that we got interested in someone's arrows one afternoon because he was grumling that he had only 6 and one was bent, careful observation showed he was doing best with the bent one!