Last chance bow repair

[Eric Krewson]

5 years ago I made a bow for a special guy who was badly wounded in Afghanistan. Once a top shot he had to stop shooting because of his injuries. As he recovered from his wounds he started shooting again. I gave him this bow to thank him for his service, to say he shot it a lot was an understatement.

After 5 years and no telling how many shots his bow failed with a crack all the way across the back. When I looked at the crack I decided the bow was a wall hanger and at first planned to put a new limb on the bow. Later I thought a new bow was in order because it didn't make much sense to put a new limb on an old bow. Then I thought there is nothing to loose by trying a repair, so here goes;

I should have taken a picture of the crack but was too far along with the possible fix when I thought of it.

I started by stringing the bow and pulling it to about 20" on a tillering stick to open the crack and injected Unibond deeply into the crack with a syringe.



I put a thin osage piece over the crack, a bamboo clamp pad over the shim and tied everything up as tight as I could get it with string.



I don't have a clue if this will save the bow but I had to try. I did have one of the esteemed members here (who will remain nameless) chastise me for putting bow fixes up on this board. His position was that I promoted substandard bow making practices by showing fixes. I took this to mean if you make them right none will ever break and if they do, you should trash the bow and make one correctly the next time. I guess I make substandard bows because I have had several break after they had about 200K shots through them, some break before they got off the tillering tree and at every point in between the two mentioned extremes.

Anyway, more to come, the bow is in my drying box so the glue will cure faster. 

 

[penderbender]

No harm in trying. If you can save it why not?

[bradsmith2010]

ok,, I have fixed some bows that went for 1000s of shots with" substandard procedures"( I did splice a new limb on a broken bow for a friend it shoots great) 
I am not sure if your fix will work,, I have had success with sinew backing that section of bow,, you would have to redo the snake skin, but I would give the sinew a try if your patch does not work,,your archer friend sounds like a friend I had in Tenn,, I know he appreciates your effort,,   I will donate sinew if you need some,, also,, some bows do break even when made correctly,, and on a positive note,, I killed a deer last year with a bow that cracked across the back,, that was in october and I am still shooting it,, I always tried to fix everything for the last 30 years,,,, so I am pretty good at it now,, I can fix any bow,, even if I have to replace both limbs

[Eric Krewson]

I will put a superglued thread wrap over the glued up piece as a last step.

I made the bow for Gil, the guy in the center.

[bradsmith2010]

I have found linen string works great for a wrap with superglue

[bubby]

I remember you posting that bow Eric , i hope your repair holds

[Jim Davis]

Erik, I like to see repair efforts. I have replaced both back and belly on a limb, leaving just enough of the old limb to amount to a core for about half the length. Have also thinned the back of a limb and backed it with hickory, which you could also do with that bow if the patch fails.

BTW, Gil shoots up my way often and has good things to say about your work. :-)

Jim Davis

[George Tsoukalas]

Eric, I think making that bow is nice gesture. Thank your friend for his service. Jawge

[Eric Krewson]

Out of the hot box, the glue is mostly cured;



I feathered the edges of the patch and blended it into the bow limb. I am going to soak the patch with Zap-A-Gap superglue to harden it after the unibond is completely cured, this superglue soaks into wood like water.



Tomorrow I will string the bow (cautiously) and check the tiller. When I am sure everything is OK the patched area will get a superglue soaked thread wrap like this;

[Eric Krewson]

I guess I can't work miracles. I strung the bow to check how well the glue would hold and the everything cracked back like it was.  I didn't wrap it because if the glue wouldn't hold at brace I didn't think it would hold a full draw with a wrap. I believe urac would have held this bow together, unibond may not be as strong.

[mullet]

I hate to see that, Eric. I met Gil at the Classic, a very fine gentleman and a true Hero. If you don't have time I'd be happy to make him a new bow.

And, where do you get Zap a Dap glue?

[bradsmith2010]

is that bow backed,, or is it self bow?

[Eric Krewson]

Hobby shops have Zap-a -gap but I got mine off ebay, no hobby shops in town that carry it. It is so thin it will flow deeply into any crack. The thin stuff has a pink label.

The bow is a selfbow Brad, no backing.

[half eye]

Eric,
    sorry you could not save it sir.....if I can do anything for you regarding a replacement... materials, stave etc please let me know. Come from a military family and would be proud to help in any way you need.
rich

[Pappy]

I was hoping you could repair it Eric, he showed it to me and I really had little hope but figured if anyone could repair it you could. Gil sure loved that bow and shot it well.
 Pappy