I want to try a sinew backed recurve, but I don't know if it will survive...

[oscar3b]

Hey everyone!  I have a question for the experts out there.  This past summer I bought an osage "tomato stake."  I had been looking for osage because in my part of Kentucky we're not osage poor, but I was having a hard time finding any that I could cut down  (there is a beautiful osage tree that I see all the time from the interstate in someone's yard but it would require committing a crime to get too.) 
 
Anyways, I finally found this lumberyard that advertised osage, black locust, etc. in board form close to my inlaws in Indiana.  After calling the guy, he tells me that he has plenty of osage in board form, and that I was welcome to come out and look at it.  When I get there however he only has it in "tomato stakes," the longest of which is the piece that I bought for $1.  It's around 55" and it's 1 7/16" wide.  I've been wanting to liberate this piece of wood for awhile but after careful inspection, it's a little more challenging than I thought, and I think it's going to require backing. 

I've always wanted to do a sinew backed recurve anyways so I figure that now is my chance.  My question however is this.  If I sinew back the bow, and boil the tips to bend them into recurve, what kind of draw length do you think I could get out of it?  Should I leave the tips full width at first?  I know you have no pictures (though I will hopefully fix that soon, but I've looked at the bows of others for a long time now and I see varying draw lengths.  I think my biggest problem is that I have no practical experience yet with sinew or osage for that matter.  Everyone talks about how tough osage is and how sinew seems to be amazing stuff.  Would it be possible to get a 28" draw from 55" sinew backed osage, or do you think it would over strain the bow too much?  Also what do I need to do to the board to get it ready for sinew? 

I was thinking I should go ahead and get the bow floor tillered before applying sinew.  Is that the correct way to go about it?  Also do I need to wash the back or treat it in some way for the glue to stick?  I was going to use Titebond III as well, due to the fact that it is waterproof and sinew is so susceptible to absorbing moisture in the air.  I didn't know if that would help the sinew or not though.  I had also thought about using hide glue and then coating the back of the bow with Titebond III after the sinew had cured for extra insurance.  Has anyone ever tried this?  Lastly I usually use spar urethane and just spray it on to finish my bows.  Can I spray this over sinew or will it hurt it? 

Thanks everyone!  I've tried to do my homework on the matter as much as I can, and I've looked at so many bows on the forum now.  I just thought that I would ask for help from such a knowledgeable group before diving in because I have now finished my fifth successful bow and am working on #6, but the difficulty level on this one is much higher than the others I've tried.  I will say that I'm working on my first recurve now.  Really my first and 2nd because I have a bow that came in way under weight once and now am looking at making it a recurve as well.  Now that I say that I think I just realized that I really have it bad.  I just remembered that I have a black locust bow in the works along with an elm bow that I had wanted to make into an ELB.  Lol!  I love this bow making stuff!  Thanks again ya'll!

[Josh Shuck]

My biggest concern...if this is a sawn board, do you have any grain run out?  That maybe your biggest hurdle.  28" and 55 isn't impossible but asking a lot.  Tiller and grain have to be spot on.  Do you have a pic of the questionable spots?

I would not recommend tb3 as you do not get the full effect of the sinew by doing so.  Sinew is a fair amount of prep and I would save it for a great piece of wood, not one that sounds questionable right out of the gate. 

I would just hate to see you spend a huge amount of time on steaming recurves and processing the sinew if you don't have a good foundation...just my $.02

[gstoneberg]

I was thinking I should go ahead and get the bow floor tillered before applying sinew.  Is that the correct way to go about it?  Also do I need to wash the back or treat it in some way for the glue to stick?  I was going to use Titebond III as well, due to the fact that it is waterproof and sinew is so susceptible to absorbing moisture in the air.  I didn't know if that would help the sinew or not though.  I had also thought about using hide glue and then coating the back of the bow with Titebond III after the sinew had cured for extra insurance.  Has anyone ever tried this?  Lastly I usually use spar urethane and just spray it on to finish my bows.  Can I spray this over sinew or will it hurt it? 

Whether your bow will work or not I don't know, but I can answer some of your questions.  Yes, get your bow floor tillered before sinewing.  I would not go through the hassle of sinew without using hide glue to get the full benefit of the sinew backing.  Some do, but I wouldn't.  You should degrease (really you're removing oil) the back of the bow before gluing.  I use fingernail polish remover as the cleaner on my osage bows before sinew.  I also rough sand the back but not a lot, just enough to roughen it.  You can spray poly over sinew and it will waterproof the sinew.  I don't particularly like the look though.  My favorite sinew coverings are snakeskin and cotton cloth with a nice pattern.  Over that I seal with satin poly.  However, you might want to wait to put the finish on until you've gotten the bow all shot in.  You can soak the sinew off a broken bow and reuse it as long as there's not a finish on it.  Not that I expect it to fail.  I do this with all my sinew bows.

Good luck.

George

[oscar3b]

Thanks guys!  I really appreciate the input.  I just got home (it's late here in old KY) so I'll try to sand my board stave as best I can and then post a few pictures tomorrow. 

Josh- you're right about not going to all the work just for it to come apart.  I think the grain on the back is good but that's why I'm gonna sand it down just to double check.  My biggest problem is the grain on the side of the board.  The back ring doesn't look violated but it gets thin in a few spots towards the tips. 

George- thanks for the answers and the advice on your different methods; especially soaking the sinew off if it breaks.  How much sinew do you think it would take?