Filling gaps in splices with wood shavings

[Tom Dulaney]

I have seen several people on forums describe a process of filling gaps in splices with wood shavings (thin, flexible strips of wood, stringy shavings, saw dust?) when they can't cut their billets with exact precision for the siyahs, the handle, etc. The shavings bridge the gap between the ill-fitted pieces of wood.

So I would like to get the opinions of Primitive Archer contributors: do you feel it is acceptable to do this? Have you ever done it before, for high-stress splices? Let's assume the splice will be given double sinew wrappings. Is it recommended to give all the components a thorough sizing, or is too much glue a bad thing?

Any advice is much appreciated. I really want to know if wood shavings mixed with glue can adequately substitute a perfectly gapless v-splice.


P.S: I'm talking about hide/sinew/fish bladder glue here.

[Del the cat]

Obviously the best is to get it right in the first place or steam and clamp, but there are times when some other trick is needed.
Much better to pad out with shavings than to rely on a big gap filled with glue.
It's like most things, you can do it well or badly, so even if the splice isn't perfect you can fiddle and fettle it by using these tricks and "get away with it" .
BUT if someone without decent skills tries to use these tricks they will probably screw them up too .
I hate the term "expert" but if you have to use the term, my definition of an expert is "someone who can put right their own mistakes".
I've padded out a core lam with a thin sliver before now and mended breaks, splits etc.
Del
The only arbiter of acceptability is you... but you have to listen to that internal voice that says... nope... do it again.
(Failing that, listen to your wife  )

[Limbit]

Depends entirely on what you are making and your own personal standard. Bowers do this a lot where I live in Taiwan. They fill a gap with fine sawdust and then soak it in a type of super-glue. It polishes up almost identical to the wood and it keeps the superglue from fracturing. Superglue is a good choice since it is so viscous, but it doesn't handle shock well and can deteriorate over time. The wood dust largely takes care of this. I feel like I am doing something terribly wrong if I end up at the point where I consider this in a bow and have only ever used it in risers on bamboo bows where the wood riser didn't fit well with the bamboo's convexed or concaved belly (depending on how I make the bow). I always wrapped the area completely in thread so you couldn't see it anyway, but it did look just fine after scrapping it down with a razor. I think it would work just fine to fill in a bored out knot or some checking in the wood. I am not sure if the grade of dust matters, but the fine stuff is easiest to get into thin areas.

[Hrothgar]

I've used sawdust and TB II, as well as saw dust and 2 part epoxy before, and was careful to wrap the splice with thread and glue. Like Del said the better option is having a tight, proper fit.

When you say 'high stress areas' are you meaning  a bend through the handle bow; that could be problematic.

[Eric Krewson]

Every once in awhile I may be daydreaming when I cut a splice and really goof it up. If heating and clamping leave a gap I will cut a thin shim, butter it up with glue and insert it in the gap as I apply glue to the rest of the splice and clamp.

I run into this more when I am replacing a limb on an existing spliced bow and cut the old splice out on the lines. It never goes as neatly as I had hoped.