ELKIE gets a makeover!...continued!

[oneeye]

I remember this bow from way back.  Seems I recollect you gathered all the materials from various members of P.A..  It won BOM then, wasn't this one of your first bows?    Scott

[Pat B]

Scott, it was my first sinew backed bows. and yes everything in this bow came from someone else. I've made 3 or 4 sinew backed bows and still haven't had to shread sinew!   
  Snag, the dry air in Colorado did have an effect on Elkie. When I first built her she was 56#@26". After a month in our humid summertime weather she dropped to 45#@26". I mailed her out to Colorado 2 weeks before the hunt and when I got there she was back up to 55#@26" and a month after the hunt she was up to almost 65#.  I think the main problem was I used Knox for the glue and I guess it didn't adhere as well as I thought it would. This time after wiping down the bow with alcohol I wet the wood with warm water, sized the back well with hide glue anf began sinewing. Hopefully this will hold up better.
  You can read the original "The Story Of EKLIE" in vol 15, iss 5 Oct/Nov 2007 PA Magazine.

[osage outlaw]

Looking good Pat.  That is a nice trick using the sinew tie down for reflex.  I am definitely going to use that next time.  Are you sure it was the knox?  Could the back have had some oil or grease from heat bending?

[oneeye]

Yes Pat, shreading the sinew is the worst part in my opinion. I use to pay my kids to do it. 

[Pat B]

I really don't know what it was. The sinew/skin peeled off in one sheet and did not adhere well to the wood. It could have been grease/oil, finger prints, oily wood(even though I degreased) or the glue(Knox). I really don't know!
Here are a few pics of Elkie with her "skin" coming off.


and in her full glory...


Kenneth at full draw...


and on a red rock rim in Colorado...

[Pat B]

Scott, Tim Lathum's kids stripped the sinew going on Elkie this time. The original sinew(elk) was shreaded and given to me by Charlie Wentz(crookedbow?) from Colorado.

[snag]

She is worthy of restoration! What a fine looking bow.  How are you acquiring the hide glue? Are you making it?

[osage outlaw]

Pat, your full draw pics of your bows just don"t look right without your beard.   You should have had that guy take a picture of you drawing it.

Your sinew lifting looks a lot like mine did on the first try.  Oil was definitely the cause of mine.  I had done a lot of heat bending and didn't get the oil off good enough.   I scrubbed it with dawn soap and then with acetone before redoing the sinew.  The second attempt is still holding and the bow has flung a lot of arrows.  I used knox both times.

[Keenan]

Pat glad to see you restoring Elkie. To nice of bow not definitely doable.  I've only had the sinew lift once and after that I started making sure to scratch the surface with some 80 grit sand paper. Sanding with the grain of coarse,  Seems to give a little more of a foot hold for the sinew.

[fusizoli]

Nice save!

On Osage the owen cleaner helps a lot before glueing anything on it. Wash it down well!;)

Newer used Knox gelatin, but heard it is not enough strong. Hide glue or any sweet water fish bladder glue is much better and stronger, especially the last one. Rabbit hide glue is working fine too.

[Sidewinder]

Wow Pat, this is a cool thread. That is a beautiful bow. I can't wait to see it done again. Can you over cook the Knox and have it loose some of its holding properties? I have limited experience with repairing areas with sinew but never fully backed one with it The repair I did delaminated was well and I wonder if I over heated it or did'nt get the oils off well enough.   Danny

[Little John]

Pat, just found this thread as I have been off line for a couple of days now. Makes my heart sing to see ELKIE getting back into shape and ready for round two. Just make sure she does not get too heavy for you to draw with all that sinue and  make sure to leave a  couple of weeks open in September the rest will work itself out. We need to get you that elk while we are still young. I feel  much better with you making the repairs as ELKIE deserves a better repair man than me.  Looks like my job might be coming back home for the summer and I have been working on my fitness program with a mountain bike.     Kenneth

[Pat B]

I have only done a few sinew backed bows so I am learning as I go.  I used hide glue this time. My friend Alan gave me enough to back a bow with.  I sanded the back, toothed it ,wiped down with alcohol and began the sinewing within a few hours.
  Fusizoli, I plan to make a horn bow in the near future and will probably try to use fish bladder glue or other high quality hide glue for that.
 Danny, I don't know if you can overheat Knox or not. I know if the glue it too hot the sinew will shriveled up and become useless.
Kenneth, Elkie is your bow! She will be fit and ready for September in Salt Creek. I've got my bendy osage recurve with cherry bark backing and I'm making myself another "ELK" hunting bow!       Glad to hear you'll be home soon. Just weekends at home would drive me crazy. Plus the honey do list gets bigger from one weekend to the next.     I'm been pulling the hills around here a bit harder when I'm out for a walk and trudging through the woods with 6"+ of snow on the ground is like having 10# leg weights on each leg.   Kenneth, send me an e-mail. I tried to email you this morning with pics but got rejecter with 2 old email addresses I used.

[Little John]

Pat, yea the deep snow trudging is a work out. We finally got a big dumping here, made the ranch chores intresting for a while. I will try to get the email sorted out this weekend and get you mailed. Kathie has changed hers up and I guess my new computer is not set up yet with my account.    Kenneth

[wodpow]

my sinew was pulling loose just like that in one long sheet also. It was bright yellow every time it pulled up finally I used hard wood ash paste and put it on heavy after I used a band saw blade to rough it up and let it dry for a week then washed it off with a pressure washer the color was turned a lighter shade of gray like yellow I put on a couple layers of thinned hide glue and had the limbs warmed so the glue didn't start to jell premature after four layers and four weeks drying it pulled it's self tight and I think it will hold this time.