My old locust bow...RIP

[IdahoMatt]

What a fun project.  Can’t wait to see what this thing tunes up for a be. 

[hoosierf]

I enjoy rejuvenating old bows as much as making new ones.  I like this thread very much. 

[Pat B]

Thanks guys. It has been fun and I'm excited to see how she turns out but it will be a while before I can try.

[Pat B]

Tomorrow, June 2 will be 2 weeks since I sinewed "Phoenix" so I'll release her from the form and see what we've got. I know I will have to retiller and reduce weight so that's when we'll really know what we've got.     
I'll post pics.

[Pat B]

She's been released. From here...


to here...


you can see she didn't hold much of the added reflex but still enough to improve her...I hope. I'll let her rest for a few days before I begin retillering and weight reduction.
 Here is how I laid the sinew backing over the sinew strap hold down. This is right after cutting the strap...


...also, while reworking this bow I realized why she fretted. I made the belly flat without following the back's ups and downs and where knots or swells on the back were overpowered the thinner areas between them. Some bow woods might not have fretted but with locust if there is a varience in thickness it will fret where the limb is thinner.
and after the tag ends are cut flush with the sinew backing.


...more to come...

[RandyN]

Looks good Pat. I have an old osage bow, the first one I made, that I want to try breathing new life into with sinew. Following your progress to see how your bow comes out. Thank you for sharing.

[Tommy D]

Tomorrow, June 2 will be 2 weeks since I sinewed "Phoenix" so I'll release her from the form and see what we've got. I know I will have to retiller and reduce weight so that's when we'll really know what we've got.     
I'll post pics.

Is 2 weeks long enough? How do you tell when the sinew is dry enough? I always thought sinew backing entailed months and month in the rafters - nice to know it can be done quicker?!

[Pat B]

Thanks Randy. Good luck with your osage.
 Tommy, I don't know if 2 weeks is enough. I've always done a month with each course. I did read in Jim Hamm's book that 2 weeks were plenty and we've had unusually dry R/H lately so I was thinking that 2 weeks would be enough. I guess I'll find out when I retiller and reduce weight. It didn't hold much of the reflex I induced.

[bradsmith2010]

I have had pretty good results letting it dry couple of weeks,, not saying it wouldnt have been better to let it go longer,,
held reflex ok and shot good through chrono,, Ill continue to try both ways,, sometimes one is drying when I work on several others and they work good too,, I think yours will shoot fine,, usually takes me a week to tiller anyway so then its drying 3 weeks,
Laubin said he couldnt tell a difference, dont think it hurts to let it go longer, but a nice bow can be made quicker in dry climate, I wouldnt argue that waiting longer might have a bennfit, just hard to measure it,,,yours looks good to go,,
  also I forgot to add,,I think its harder to get a bow to hold reflex that is shot in,, that has been my experience, I think you did great on that one,,

[Pat B]

Thanks Brad. Hearing that from you gives me more confidence. 
 We've had a pet emergency here a few days ago. Our 5 year old dog, Maggie ripped her inner thigh open, has about 35 stitches, a drain tube and a plastic cone around her neck to keep her from messing with it. I've had to drive an hour each way, twice already just getting her to and from the emergency hospital and heading back Sunday morning for a check up. She'll be down for about 10 days all together then the stitches come out. Keeping her down is a full time job because to her keeping the bears and coyotes away is her main, self imposed job. Plus, our daughter is coming in from Houston on Sunday for a week or two so this project has been on hold until things calm down. It's been a very restless, unnerving experience so far.

[Fox]

Aww poor Maggie! we've got a 10yr  old dog thats the most stubborn dog! she has ripped her inner thigh open 2 times now once cutting arteries, and once stuck a stick in her chest right near her heart! darn dog \

bow is looking good pat

[bradsmith2010]

wow,, so sorry bout the emergency, hope all goes well from this poing out,

[Pat B]

Back to the top for WhistlingBadger.

[bradsmith2010]

whe you gonna string it,,

[Pat B]

 Brad, I braced her the other day, almost gave myself a hernia.    The brace height turned out lower do to the extra draw weight with the added sinew but everything looked pretty even. When inspecting the bow before adding the sinew I noticed where the frets were was in thinner areas between some slight humps on the back so I'll retiller to even the thickness out as I reduce the weight a bit.
 It's still a little hectic around here lately. Maggie gets her stitches out on Sunday so that will help calm things down. Our daughter has been here for a week and will be here another week which adds more "excitement" to the mix. Things may need to calm down a bit before I get back into it.