sinew on white ash??

[TurtleCreek]

  Just curious if any of you guys think that this combo would work.  I have access to a bunch of it and have wanted to give it a shot, but wanted everyone's opinion first.  Thanks guys

[toomanyknots]

I sinew backed an ash once, it chrysaled just a little at first, but after that it was great. Don't know what kind of ash it was though.

[half eye]

Turtle,
     I've made a bunch of white ash self bows ....and it makes a great bow. I believe that if you back it with sinew, you will want to pick a design that favors an over-strong back. One example might be to trap the back before the sinew, or at the very least you will want to "crown" the back. Otherwise I feel that you run a risk of overpowering the belly.
     Keep in mind that I use quartersawn wood, so take my experience for what ever it's worth to your project.
rich

[Eric Garza]

White ash is very tension strong relative to is compression strength, so you do want to take care not to overburden the belly.  Trapping is one option, another is to put your sinew on in a ribbon down the center of the bow's back rather than covering the entire back with it.  This will focus the tension on the ribbon of sinew, and help to balance out the relatively compression weak belly.  You could also tiller the bow before backing it and give it a good heat treating to enhance compression strength, but the benefits from doing that may not be permanent. 

[TurtleCreek]

  Thanks for the info guys, maybe one of these days I will do a build-along so you all can see