Hackberry and duct tape recurve

[Hrothgar]

Have been working on this hackberry bow off and on for some time. I thought it was finished, at least the stain and finish have been applied. Although its been to 40# @ 26" on the tillering tree, I hadn't braced and shot it till today (I was really wanting to put this behind me and move on). A very very slight splinter wanted to come up right where it began to recurve, this was due to my form coming apart when I was heating and bending. After I got the form repaired I didn't reheat the limb long enough and it caused a slight crack. I didn't think it was very deep and since there was still a lot of wood on the limb, I tried and thought I had succeeded in scraping and sanding down into good wood. The whole time I was tillering there was no more problem. Then it resurfaced. Since the bow had been proclaimed 'finished' and I was ready to start shooting, I broke out the duct tape for a quick fix/precautionary measure and proceeded to shoot away. Results: a great, sweet shooter. Guess I'll leave the tape on for now since I it apparently isn't a problem, and I don't really want to know if the splinter lifted any more.

[dwardo]

I find it frustrating sometimes and just want to get a bow done and out of the way. More often than not i just leave it in the corner and start something else. I get back to it eventually. Does look to be bending a lot where the tape is.

[Hrothgar]

Dwardo, you're right about the bend. Part of that may be due to a dip in the limb at that spot. The amount of duct tape is a little excessive too. The splinter is so slight I hadn't even noticed it was still there until I started sanding between coats of poly finish.

[blackhawk]

Is the splinter on the back? And are you leaving the duct tape on? Or is it a temporary fix? Over time I would suspect the tape to wear out from strexthing and not returning to normal shape,and would cause rick of that splinter popping further,or going kaboom altogether...that's if its on the back of your bow

[Hrothgar]

Blackhawk- no, the splinter is on the belly side near the edge. The duct tape was only meant to be a temporary fix. I removed the tape tonight to see if things had gotten worse after 30 arrows yesterday. It hasn't, but when I run my finger up the limb towards the handle it's there. I meant to post a couple more close up shots, but my camera battery is dead for now. I'm thinking I might wrap an inch or so of artificial sinew around the area and glue it good.

Any ideas would be welcome.

[Blaflair2]

Superglue won't hold it?

[blackhawk]

Oh...well that aint so bad then ...as long as its small and doesn't run deep and isn't hinged there....that's just a classic tension crack on the belly while inducing reflex....it either wasn't hot enough,or ya tried moving it too far too fast etc....but anyways just wrap it with something better than duct tape  .... like real sinew would be the best way....pending on the size it might not even need a wrap....I have a couple bows with a "oops" spot left bare,and are still holding fine...but they were pretty small and on the surface yet and not running down into the wood...if the crack goes down into the limb a bit it can/will be fatal if not wrapped....

[autologus]

Sinew would be better like blackhawk said, the good thing about the sinew is that it will shrink and get very tight holding the splinter down and it hardens and makes a very strong patch something artificial sinew just can't do.

Grady

[The Gopher]

superglue would be my choice, and if the splinter is actually wanting to lift, just hold it down with a little spring clamp while the glue dries.