How good is good enough for splice

[Mo_coon-catcher]

 I've got a bow that the tip snapped on. I'm working on fixing it by cutting off the tip in a v-splice and am going to put a new end on. I'm doing the same to the other side to make it match. I plan to steam the joint and clamp it together for a tighter fit. If I'm going to steam it in wondering how tigt of a fit the joint needs to be before steaming. I have one at the point I think will work. When held up to the light it has about 30% contact withot pinching it tighter and with finsger pressure it closes to about 80%. I'll probably use a clear epoxy to glue it then once it's cleaned up I'll glue a patch of rawhide on top to help it hold.

Any opinions on if this will hold up and work. I feel like it will. But I've bever made a splice before and I'm doing two on this bow so all tips apreciated.

Thanks,
Kyle

[LittleBen]

My guess is that if the fit is not perfect it will depend on the glue used. I would use smooth-on or urac.

[PatM]

 It will hold with a good hard glue but wrapping it will work far better than rawhide.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

For wrapping, which would be better a strong thread or sinew?

[PatM]

Strong thread and epoxy. Not primitive but more sure-fire in a non primitive scenario.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

In this case I would rather be a better chance of working and holding up. I've got several spools of fly tying thread which to me seems pretty strong for its size compared to cotton threads. Will that be strong enough you think? If I use smooth on I'll need to order it so if I need a stronger thread I can get it at the same time.

[lebhuntfish]

Coming from a fly tier, several types of fly tying thread are silk. I if using fly silk I would look for fly rod builder's epoxy. It is designed to work with encasing the silk. It's is very hard and and very weather proof. But me personally I am a sinew fan. Applied wet it will get tighter as it cures. JMO Patrick

[Limbit]

Like the guys said, if you take nylon thread and bind it on around the splice as tightly as possible, this will go A LONG way toward stabilising the splice. You can apply glue before or after binding depending on the viscosity of the glue. Superglue is actually great for this type of thing assuming it isn't going to bend. Hide glue is great too. You can use just about any string you want assuming it is strong. You can even cut strips of thin rawhide, soak it in hide glue and bind it on if you want to go primitive. Or sinew for that matter. It'll be way stronger than it was before, but be careful not to overdue it or the tips will start weighing too much.

[mikekeswick]

Keep working it until you see no light and you won't need to wrap it 
I've done a few bows with spliced in tips and they don't need wrapping. A good v-splice is very strong.

[sleek]

Fine.... I'll be the one to say it... ahem, pics?

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I never took a pic before starting the fix. But this is the point I was at the other day. Because of my affinity to make tips as small as possible there isn't a lot of material to work with. Especially since I wanted to get as close as I can without damaging the skins. Since being glued down with TB3 I have no idea how to safetly remove them. And because of that I opted to not steam the tips to get the joit tighter. I was able to get the joint tigh enough to not see light through it for about 90% but couldn't get any tighter. Which I did get that joint tighter than what's in the picture. An couldn't quite get rid of a little curvature to the mating sufaces. Something I need to practice on I guess. So I opted to glue with a slow set epoxy and plan to wrap. I looked at the smooth on epoxy, but can't afford it for the probability that this the only time for a while it'll get used and only for a small amount too. Especially since I read that it has a short shelf life even in the fridge. I replaced the tips with a less dense wood so I'm hoping that it will help compensate for the added mass of the glues. I went ahead and glued due to a lack of time to work on it. If this doesn't hold I'll clean it up and put more time in to get the joints tight.

Kyle

[sleek]

Thats not much gluing surface area told the stresses. Im worried. If you leave it like that, undo that wrap and gpue on an underlay to help distribute the load over a wider surface. Make the underlay functional too like brush nocks.  Next time you need to do that make it a deeper longer splice. I understand you had limited space. Glue on an underlay to help, it will save that.  Make it long. I mean like the inches past the splice tip. Make it come to the tip also. Then do your wrap if you want but you wont need to. Use locktite gell if the joint is good, tight bond III if its not a perfect match.

Trust me, it will look amazing.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I havnt wrapped yet, I'm giving the epoxy a full day before I shape it down. I was thinking since I'm going to do an overlay anyway about extending the overlay to the end of the joint . I'll probably do your suggestion of and underlay. Removing the old wrap doesn't bother me at all. I planned to when I go to wrap the new on. I feel like between all that it should hold.

Kyle

[Knoll]

Would be great to know how thinks work out after ya shoot bunch of arras. Good luck!

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Sleek, I think I'll use that idea on it. I took me a moment to get exactly what you said. Reading comprehension a not quite there while at work.  Using my buddies large table belt sander it won't take any time to get the tips, long under and overlays flattened. I think if I pick the wood well for complimenting colors it'll look good. The wood I put on the tips is black cherry and the bow is black locust. The woods I have to put on are ERC, more cherry, walnut, hickory, ash, black locust, osage.