Sinew backing over a knot, expert advice needed.....

[TurtleCreek]

  Assuming that the knot on the back of a stave is properly "raised", when backing a bow like this, do you just lay the sinew bundles on as usual, or is there a a certain way that you should secure the sinew that goes over the knot to prevent it from lifting as the bow is drawn. 

[mikekeswick]

I don't leave knots raised, I like to chase to a single ring everywhere. Raised sections can pop off whereas a single ring won't. Instead of leaving extra wood above the chosen ring just make the limb a little wider - this is much safer.
So if sinew backing don't leave any raised section if you already have a chased ring and yes just sinew straight over the knot. With sinew you don't need to chase rings at all, it's perfectly ok to even out any character spots to get a uniform surface. If often shape the back to be crowned if i'm going to be sinewing.

[Pat B]

I just follow the back. If a knot is somewhat raised(not with an island around it) the sinew goes over that. If there is a dip the sinew follows that. I try to keep the thickness of the sinew even no matter what the back surface looks like.

[loefflerchuck]

Yes the back of a knot will already be raised if you follow a ring(never hurts when you are drawing a bow more than 1/2 its length.) Sinew glue sticks to knots just as well as any other wood

[loefflerchuck]

In the above bow I put the sinew around the knots

[TurtleCreek]

Thanks a lot guys, the info really helps.

[sonny]

one potential problem with sinewing over a raised knot is that sinew wants to straighten as it dries.
you're much better off to rasp the knot to the same level as the rest of the back before applying sinew.
 

[loefflerchuck]

Sinew will shrink the same on a bumpy of flat stave, this is not an issue. If you rasp a knot down you will need to leave it bigger on the belly. Sinew will not keep a improperly made bow from blowing up