Dogwood bow

[James Rodney]

Hey, guys.  Just wanted to get a few eyes on this and see if anyone can make some suggestions as to what i should do with it.   I started working on the dogwood stave i had, and upon tillering, i found a knot on the back of the bow.  As i was finishing up the back of the bow, i barely knocked off the top of a knot, but it's cracking.. i'm thinking about putting a silk backing on it.. should i fill it will superglue while i have it on the jig? or should i do it while off, or even at all?  it's 54 inches long, about 20 inch draw right now, i'll tiller more to get more draw.  and probably around 30-35 lbs. I haven't heard any cracking or noises from it, so i think i could take it down more.  I really don't know how to proceed with it, without messing it up.

[bowandarrow473]

I don't think superglue and silk will save it, you said it was on the back correct?
Rawhide or sinew would probably be your best bet to save this bow.

[James Rodney]

yea, it's on the back... i've worked my arse off on this to sand down to a knot on the back.. everything else fell perfectly in place.  there's a knot in the middle by the riser area.. it's perfect.  i do want to save it.  i said silk because this is going to be for a 6 year old little girl.  just wanted to be able to draw on it, make it girly for her :p

[ccase39]

Thats cool, Dogwoods are endangered here and you arent allowed to cut them down. I often thought they would make nice bows.

[James Rodney]

i didn't chop the whole tree down,  i just took a split from it, painted were i cut it so the tree wouldn't die.  dogwoods are to beautiful to cut down completely.

[Josh B]

I hate to be the naysayer here, but that things toast.  A backing will only hold it together long enough to endanger your little girl.  When it comes to making bows for kids, you really want to be extra cautious.  If I'm making one for myself, I'm all for fixing one beyond repair.  For kids, I want it to be as near to bullet proof as possible.  Just my .02 .  Josh

[bowandarrow473]

I love the way dogwood looks too, got a few staves waiting to be bows right now, darned if the the stuff doesn't love to have pin knots all over the place though, I can find mulberry with less pins!

[Pat B]

It looks like you are still on the long string. I'd try to low brace(3-4") it and see how it looks then.
 As far as the knot on he back, it is unfortunate but that could be the end for this bow. I would fill it with super glue while drawn and then let it down to close the checks or cracks up.

[James Rodney]

well, i did the superglue while drawn, i'm getting a 26 inch draw out of it.. and i'm shaking like a leaf while drawing it.. it's stout! i'm guessing it's drawing a good 60 lbs.. i'm going to oh very so easy tiller some more to reduce the draw weight. luckily, my father in law shot a deer yesterday, i'm going to cure the hide and play around and see if i can do a backing. :x   

one question, how long does sinew take to cure, or dry out?  i'm going to google how to do a sinew backing, but if anyone wants to be nice and give me a link, you'll be my hero.

[DC]

I'm your hero. It's at the top of the "bows" page.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,43246.0.html

[bradsmith2010]

if it is drawing 60 #, then take the back down some growth rings to see if you you can get past the crack,,before you sinew back it,,if it is for a child then bow should probably be in the 20lb range,, as stated above make sure the bow is well shot in and not likely to break,, sinew will give you more of a chance of success than rawhide, it really just depends on the bow, and that is hard to tell from the photo,, you can always put your deer skin over the sinew  if you like the look of that,, sinew takes several weeks to dry depending on the relative humidity,,,,

[Limbit]

We have this problem among aboriginal bow makers all the time here  in Taiwan due to the wood they often use (Orange Jessamine) being all twisted and knotty. They soak the area like you did in a kind of superglue and then sand and bind it using decorative nylon thread. Always works....even on very bad fractures. If it is super bad, you can start by laying down vertical threads, glue them with something like Titebond 3 then bind over the top of these threads. It looks nice when done and works just like a brace. Try it, being sure to start the bind about an inch below the knot and work to about an inch over the knot. The thinner the nylon thread the better. If it is too thick, it will screw your tiller up and you'll need to make a mirror bind on the same spot on the opposite limb.

[wizardgoat]

Sorry James, my advice would be to start a new bow. 
A crack on the back is not good and an exploding bow can be very dangerous.
We get pacific dogwood here, it's protected in BC but I've worked some from Washington state.
Lovely wood to work and makes awesome bows.

[Pappy]

Sorry to say but if that make it is will be very surprising to me, another thing 26 inch draw for 54 inch long bow is asking way to much from Dog Wood, why such a long draw and heavy weight if you building it for a kid, it might make it at say 20/25 lbs at 20 inch draw. 
 Pappy

[James Rodney]

i was just testing the limits of it, for the future.  i've got it down to about 25 lbs and 20 inch draw now.  it surprisingly held well at that weight.  I found some sinew i'm going to back it with. thanks for the link to that Hero!