sinew

[tomm]

just did 6 bufflow back sinew I don't know how they will be but their is about 3 deer sinew for one bufflow  they are long and about 3 to 4 inch's wide.  Do any of you know if you can mix sinew from diff.  animals  or is that a bad idea?  I think that I will use the bufflow for halfting points and putting on the flathing its so long and use the deer for backing. well have a good day  Tomm

[Beleg813]

I know that deer sinew is one of the best choices, I remember reading here that certain animal sinew just isn't in the capacity to be bow backing material, i.e. cow sinew being very weak and not suitable for it at all.

Hope that helps--I think if you did a search on "sinew" you'd get some results...but you might have to wade through a few posts to find the definitive answer you are looking for.

[Marc St Louis]

I'm sorry Beleg813 but that is not correct. There was a test done in Europe a few years ago and they found that Cow sinew was the best, I have to say I disagree though. Some Horn bowyers use Moose sinew for their hornbows and I prefer it to Deer but mainly because of its length not because it is "better". I have used Deer, Moose, Cow and Ostrich sinew in very high stress bows and all have worked equally well, Ostrich sinew is weird stuff though. I have also mixed sinews, in some cases having a mix of 3 different ones, with as good a result as just using one type. It really doesn't matter what kind of sinew you use as long as it's applied properly and used to its full potential.