Preparing sinew

[Tim B]

I am getting ready to sinew back a hickory bow. Does anyone have some suggestions on how I should prepare this elk leg sinew. Should I beat it with a mallet while it is dry and spread it apart or should I soak it first?

[coyote pup]

In my experiences with whitetail leg sinew, better to beat it first, and then soak the smaller strands. I guess it would be the same for elk.

[TRACY]

Beat it then pull it apart in threads. Do a search on sinew and see what you get. There are many threads on it. I think Jackcrafty has one in the "How To" section that is illustrated well.

Tracy

[gutpile]

sinewing hickory is like spinning your tires..you are going to lose cast....plus it is gonna take a long time to dry...if its got a good back don't do it..if questionable I would back it with hickory strip or boo..JMO....gut

[Ryano]

How heavy is it now? and how deep do the cracks run? Once hickory starts fretting on the belly there isnt much you can do to save it.  You might flaten the belly out and glue another heavier wood on the belly side of the bow. I've seen someone post a hickory selfbow a while back that they did that to, I think they used ipe if my memory serves me right.

[gutpile]

the boo shouldn't overpower your hickory and that is a better choice than sinew, at least for hickory, otherwise I would say sinew it.....just taper the boo 1/8 at handle to 1/16 at tips..and get your back flat..now once you flatten the back how thick is your hickory going to be..? this should work better but it depends on how thick your hickory is at the bad spot...are you gonna be able to get it good and flat at the curves also...?If not and your belly is too thin I suggest leaving it alone and starting another..might only be 25 Lbs but it is shooting now...you might give it to a kid and become their hero too..LOL...good luck to ya bro..let us know what you decide..Kirk..aka..gut

[Kegan]

Seems like a tall order, but doable. I've backed hickory with sinew- worked great. Jay Massey backed hickory with sinew with excellent results. But any of those backings should work.

A note. Once you pound it into finer threads, comb it with a brush made of brads driven into a small board. I didn't do this before, and got lucky the first time, but the last backing I did was uglier than I'd ever seen! It also was harder to lay down properly onto the bow's back.

[gutpile]

also..doubt you will get that kind of gain 30lbs with sinew anyway..not unless you cut 2 inches off both ends then sinew...with all the effort you are going to put in trying to save it you could just build another..Why did it pull a splinter while reflexing it..how did you do the reflex job..dry heat ,steam, ..would like to hear about it...the boo job considering you don't lose to much on your back might give you 10 lbs.to gain, as much as you want you will still have to shave off the ends..Ryano has made a suggestion about glueing on another wood on the belly and I have a buddy with a hickory that is kind of in the same boat as you...cracked his while dry heat reflexing...didn't pull a splinter cracked the whole belly on both limbs..didn't get it hot enough was his problem..curious as to how the glueing a lam on the belly would work..might be a fix for him too......Kirk..