My old locust bow...RIP

[Pat B]

I took the bow off the form this morning. It didn't keep much reflex but it did even out the limbs a bit and added a good belly tempering. I also added lemonwood tip overlays. I used TBIII for the overlays. I was gonna use Weldwood Plastic Resin but it had become a brick in the Ball jar I had it stored in. It must have been humid the day I put it up. Here are a few pics...

[Fox]

Excited to see how it turns out!

 

[bradsmith2010]

that looks great, I have a friend getting ready to revive a osage bow,,, this is really helping inspire him, thanks for sharing,, B

[Pat B]

I got the tips reshaped and string grooves cut in.



...and what good are string grooves without a string so I low braced the bow and will let it sweat for a few hours.



It was surprisingly strong although I didn't weigh it with a scale I did pull it a little just to see. I want to sweat, exercise and reeducate the bow to bend before adding the sinew.

[Tommy D]

Pat - I am curious - if you sinew back it ... and it already has belly frets, are you not risking making these worse by having a back that is now stronger in tension than the belly? Or is sinew more forgiving that this? Or is Locust just a wood that frets don’t seem to matter so much?

[Pat B]

Tommy, for me, locust just frets. I'm sure others have had different experiences.  I've heard that a sinew backing relieves compression stresses. I've been thinking of sinew backing this bow for many years and finally getting around to it. It probably wouldn't have survived as a selfbow.

[Pat B]

I'm getting set up to start the sinew backing. After being up all night while our dogs ran bears off of their territory I'm just not in the right mind frame to get started with this. I still have to prep the bow and get the sinew divided up into usable bundles, hydrating the glue in the crock pot and whatever before I start but today just ain't the day.
 I've set up the bow pulled into reflex. I've used this method before with good results. I'm using a strip of sinew to pull the handle down to the base while the tips are up on blocks. While sinewing I'll just sinew over the hold down sinew and cut it free when the backing sinew sets up. Here are a few pics of the set up...

[Pat B]

I got the first layer of sinew on today. Once I got all my supplies close at hand I plugged in the crock pot, added water and floated a stainless bowl with the hydrating glue. While sinewing I keep a bowl of warm water and a damp towel handy to clean glue from my hands as I apply it. The hide glue can get quite sticky. Then I took the bow to the kitchen sink and scrubbed it with hot water and Dawn dish soap...
...then rinsed it with boiling water...

...I reattached it to the form with the sinew strand and sized the bows back 2 times over about 30 minutes, from tip to tip across the handle...

...then started laying the sinew. I hydrate the sinew in warm water first, grab a small bundle of sinew, shake the excess water off and dip it in the hide glue. Once it is saturated well with glue I squeegee off the excess glue with my fingers and lay it down the center of both limbs starting at the handle and work out to the tips. Then I fill in along both limbs trying to use equal amounts of sinew for both limbs.
 Here's the sinew going across the handle first...

...then filing in along both limbs...

...from tip to tip

Some of the sinew I'm using is relatively short(4" to 6") so the application is a bit rough so I have wrapped the limbs with strips of old flannel shirt. This should compress the wet sinew and help smooth out the surface. I'll take the wrap off tomorrow, check the sinew coverage and fill in the bare spots with sinew. Then the waiting really begins.

[bradsmith2010]

looking great,,, 

[Parnell]

Enjoying this, Pat.

[Pat B]

Thanks guys.
  After 2 days of drying I went back this morning to "filled in the blanks", areas that needed a little more sinew. I first gave the entire back a fresh sizing coat then added the needed sinew. Once that dries I'll take more pics, then she'll get put up for a long curing session. I'll check her out after a month with more pics and updates. For now, I'll keep her in out utility room, the room in our house with the most constant temp and humidity. After I crank up the dehumidifier in the basement I'll put her down there for a good, long drying session.

[Pat B]

This is what I added this morning...



...to be continued...

[Will B]

This is great to see Pat. Those tip overlays look awesome!  Thanks for the detailed pi’s and description of laying down the sinew

[George Tsoukalas]

Wow, Pat! That is a very interesting project! Jawge

[Pat B]

George, after sitting in the utility room for so many years I thought I'd bring "Phoenix" back to life to see how she'd perform under a new  moniker. I cut my teeth on locust but never mastered it.
 Thanks, Will.