Everything looked so good...then BOOM!

[Jon Kaw]

I finally finished up the hickory bow I was working on.  This is my third bow and my most successful so far.  66"NTN, 44#@28".  I lightly toasted the belly.  Cork arrow rest with deer hide grip and strike plate.  It took 1.5" of set which increases to 2" after a shooting session, but returns to 1.5" after a period of rest.  Good cast at hunting distances and quiet.

[bubby]

Thats too bad we have all had that happen, some constructive criticism,  the inner needed to bend more and the bottom limb can you see about mid limb that rather sharp bend? If that wasn't a hinge it was so close it was a cousin. Try and get the whole limb working on the next and the set will go down and the bow will last longer. Man it sucks when they go huh

[Morgan]

I like it Jon. Title says it went boom, sure hope not.

[Jon Kaw]

I was at a friends house letting him try the bow out.  I had put about 200 arrows through it already.  He was drawing back when I heard a loud CRACK!  The bottom limb blew up.



Post mortem exam shows a tiny knot on the back of the limb that I failed to notice during layout.  There was no indication of the knot on the belly.  I'm guessing it was too close to the edge of the limb.   







I want to thank everyone for their input as I was building this bow.  As I said at the beginning of the post, this is still my most successful build to date.  The folks on this site are a deep source of inspiration.
On to the next stave!   

[DC]

I don't think you can blame yourself for that one. That is a major flaw that was hidden inside. Even if you had seen the knot it doesn't look like there was any outside indication of all that manky stuff inside. I had a similar thing happen with a piece of yew.

[Morgan]

That's a shame. I agree that you aren't to blame for that one.

[Pat B]

The break looks near where bubby said there was a hinge in the bottom limb. I'd say the internal flaw had a lot to do with the break but the hinge also contributed. It is very uncommon for hickory to have a tension failure. Did you cut and season the hickory yourself?

[Stick Bender]

That sucks especially after you dressed it up , it happens the sooner you start another the sooner you will forget it, I keep my failures on a wall to remind me of what not to do there is always a reason why the failed it takes me a while some times to figured it out but there is always a reason .

[PatM]

Combination failure of hinge and overgrown defect.

[Jon Kaw]

No, Pat, I bought the stave.  It was split in '14.  I'm sure my flawed tiller did contribute to the fail.  But I'm getting closer.

[Pat B]

Jon, other than the minor flaw on your part(hinge) and the major internal flaw you did a fine job with this bow. 
Great attitude too!   

[BowEd]

There's still a silver lining out there.

[bradsmith2010]

could there be a bit to much ring violation at that spot,, looks like a pin knot flattend out, hard to tel in the photo,, I once heard that when a plane crashes from Pilot errer,, it is usally not one thing but at least 3 contributing causes,, maybe the same with a bow,,when it blows,,

[DuBois]

Dang it man!
Well as you say, on to the next   

[osage outlaw]

Time to start on a new one