BANG !! I hate short bows New Photo pg 2

[DQ]

This is (was) the 57" ntn sinew backed HHB bow I had at Martyjam.  I had the bow tillered to 45# @ 20" before adding the sinew. 
After sinew it must have weighed 90#!  6" of reflex was a challenge for me to tiller.  I sanded down the sinew and was slowly working it down to the 55# I wanted.  Almost there.  It was 57# @ 27" when it blew.  (on the tillering tree)  BANG!  I hate short bows.

[TRACY]

  I hate when that happens! At least it was on the tree and not in hand. Back to the drawing board.


Tracy

[MWirwicki]

Ouch!  Terribly sorry for your loss Daryl.     Try again with osage. 

[bubby]

i'm not saying nothing, I got my ishi bow out to 25, gotta start shooting in to get the rest of the draw, Bub

[JonW]

Sorry for you pain, but don't give up on trying shorter bows. IMO 57" isn't really all that short. With a stiff handle like that the tillering is a little different than a bendy. I know you know all this so get back out there and whip me up another.

[Hamish]

Having not made any sinew backed bows yet, I was under the impression sinew was supposed to prevent tension failures like this, and that a bow would slowly failure under compression.

Hamish.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Almost looks too dry? I seen the bow and flexed it some. It was done right and looking too good to blow??? Sorry Darryl. Im with Matt.

[PatM]

Tiillering a sinew backed bow down should be done by width and then belly reduction. Sanding the sinew down is not the best idea.

[soy]

I feel your pain my friend I am part of the broken HHB sinew backed Club myself
 

[tattoo dave]

That sucks Darryl!! I've been there. I could never get a shorty to survive till I finally gave in to the bendy handle. Now I make nothing but bendy handles. Love me a short bow!!

Tattoo Dave

[DQ]

PatM - I wasn't tillering by sanding the sinew.  Only sanded it smooth before tillering. 

Hamish - Yeah, that's what I thought too.  I was surprised to see the tension failure.  The belly was toased and it wasn't even damaged by the explosion.

soy - Kinda exciting club isn't it? 

PEARL - Too dry? Hmmm... maybe.

Mwirwicki - Yeah, that's your standard answer for everything.  LOL 

[PatM]

 Sanding it in any way is still a potential problem.  If the backing is not very thick in the first place just reducing it to smooth can be the tipping point.
 How thick was your backing in the center? Looks like you can cut an actual cross section of the limb now.

[steve b.]

Could have happened to anyone.  In the first pic the left limb does look thin and I'm just curious what the thickness is there.?

[DQ]

Well, maybe you're on to something, PatM.  Since the bow gained so much weight, I thought the sinew was too thick.  I sanded and scraped it down a bit.  Maybe I over did it? 

Guess I could cut a few cross sections now to see how thick (or thin) it was.

After the bow blew up I quit for the day.  When I pulled the string to turn off the light, it broke!  My nerves are shot!  LOL 

[PEARL DRUMS]

Time for a break Darryl. That sinew was is fine shape and your smoothing it wasnt the problem in my opinion. Just a tough break. You cant explain them all!