Lengthwise Crack

[Bill Skinner]

I salvaged a limb from an big osage that had washed into a creek.  It had been in the creek for years as all the sapwood was gone and it had a lot of lengthwise cracks on the back of the stave.  One stave has a crack that goes all the way through, I've dug down over an inch and I've run out of wood.  The crack starts about 3 inches above the fades on the top limb and runs for about 5 inches then goes back together.  Put superglue in it and hope for the best? Back it with something?  Make a 41 inch bow for a kid?  Firewood?

I still have to go back and get the rest, or at least as much as I want to carry up that steep ax, slippery bank.  The tree is laying from bank to bank, about 20 feet above the water, the wood is nice and dry and ready to work.  I have to balance on the log, cut a limb off, climb down to the creek bottom, cut the limb into a managable length, split it, then drag it up the bank.  I'll probably do some this weekend.

[Pat B]

Bill, wood that has been soaking in water should be treated like green wood. Did you seal the back and ends of the staves? You have to get all of the excess moisture out of the wood then let it come to equilebrium with the R/H of your area then you can build a bow from it.
  I hope you can salvage some of the wood. I'd bet it would make a special bow.

[wasanchez]

A little off topic but I'll ask anyway.  I knew a Bill Skinner that retired from the Houston fire dept a few years back and moved to Montana.  He was my dad's captain at 69s for several years.  Big time hunter, That wouldn't happen to be you would it?

Walt

[mikekeswick]

Checks on a bows back are no problem as long as they don't run-off the side of the limb. Centralise it on the back when laying it out,fill with superglue and make a bow.
The forces acting on a back check when drawn actually pull the sides of the check together.

[Bill Skinner]

Pat, nope, the wood wasn't actually in water, it was about 20 feet above it across the banks.  When the creek would get up, I think another log or branch slammed into it and that caused the crack.  I've already made one bow from the same stave, just a couple of days ago.

wasanchez, I'm retired but I am from Alabama.  Being a firefighter sounds pretty exciting. 

mikeeswick, thanks for the info, I'll give it a shot and see what happens.  If it breaks, it is still a learning experiance but it's nice to know you have a pretty good chance at succeding.  This is a really old crack, it is completely outside any experiance I have had with making bows.  I'll try flexing it backwards slightly to get the glue in.