Hickory holmegaard with chrysal

[Hrothgar]

I've been working on this 69" hickory holmegaard bow, trying to stay close to the original dimensions. I was pulling the bow to about 20" on the tillering tree when I noticed two small lines developing just to the right of the knot in the pictures. I went ahead and drilled out the 3/8" (2 centimeter) knot and refilled it with saw dust and TBII, narrowed the width a little between the handle and the knot, and am going to heat treat the belly, then wrap and glue thread around the knot--hopefully it won't be too little too late.

[PatM]

Wrapping and TB filler won't do anything but hide it from view.

[mikekeswick]

It is never a great feeling seeing chrysals....
The best bet is to chalk it down to experience and start another. Harsh but there isn't any durable fix.
The reason is that the area was too weak to resist the compression forces. Normally the area would be either a shade thin or there is a thick spot tipward or as in your case there was a knot. Knots in themselves aren't a problem if you leave enough extra width to compensate. I normally measure the width of the knot and leave at least that much extra width when marking the width taper. A knot is normally stiffer than the surrounding wood and thus throws a bit extra compression on the wood around it.

[Hrothgar]

That's what I was thinking about the knot Mike. I should have drilled it out before bending, I guess even a hole would have been better--given the extra width. Yep, experience.