Z splice

[Muskyman]

Trying my first z splice cut okay then steamed and clamped it for a better fit.
Acetone bath and glued it with ea 40  glue squirted everywhere and looked to be plenty.
After drying for 24 hours I noticed a small void in it. Should I mix a little more glue and try to fill it? I probably will, just wondering if you think it will migrate into the void and work. Gonna add some wood to the back side of the handle area.

[Hamish]

A little more glue certainly won't hurt. Unless the void looks to be really big, or goes from one side to the other it may be hard to get the glue to go deep as epoxy is more viscous than runny.

If the gap goes right through you can put glue on one side and use a vacuum to suck it through from the other side.

[superdav95]

Looks like it will be good splice.  Just heat up the ea 40 a little to make it little more liquid to get deeper in the voids.  Also add a touch of heat into splice to help. 

[Muskyman]

Void

[Muskyman]

Bottom

[Muskyman]

Better pic

[Mad Max]

A piece of tape on the bottom would have helped it, it ran out the bottom.
Like they said, use more EA-40,  heat A &B before mixing it.

[Eric Krewson]

Your splice should be OK, I have had the same problem, I put some glue in the gap and tap a few wedge shape shims in to fill the gap. This doesn't look too good but is covered up with leather. I don't have a picture of me filling gaps on a splice but do have one of me filling gaps on a bad inletting job on a flintlock.

You used a lot of glue, much more than was needed. I usually tape the bottom of my splice before I clamp it to keep the glue from running out. I use Unibond glue, I never measure the hardener and generally mix my glue to be thicker and less runny. A friend called the company once to ask about how important the exact measurement of hardener was for a good glue bond; they told him it didn't matter at all; it all hardened the same with more or less hardener.

Another thing I always do with a splice is flatten the belly and glue on another piece or wood to add depth and reinforce the splice.

[Muskyman]

Probably did use to much glue Eric. My void is probably only 1/32 wide, maybe a fuzz more.
I mixed up a little glue today and warmed it up till it was thinner than normal by quite a bit. I had tape on my bench when I glued it up. Wasn’t quite flat on the tape. Looks worse in the picture than it was. I put the warmed glue on the handle and tried to work it into the void. It seemed to flow into it pretty good. I kept going over it with my wire while warming it with a heat gun. Going to put a piece of wood on the back side of the handle to add a little bulk and make it a little thicker, maybe extend it into the fades if it needs it.

[Muskyman]

Looks better after adding a little glue to the void.
First picture is back second pic is the belly
Also have these cracks that I’m hoping will go away as I thin the limbs. Any one know what these are from and if they’ll be a problem if they don’t go away while thinning.

[Mad Max]

Put some very thin super glue in those cracks, last picture
You can wrap it later with string serving and soak the serving down with super glue.

[Eric Krewson]

The cracks are what we call "wind shakes", they are very common in osage. They can be deep or shallow, I always lay my bow out so I avoid these cracks because you never know about the depth.

If they are still there when you completely shape your bow, fill them with superglue and proceed like they aren't there. If any run off close to the side of your limbs, a serving thread wrap soaked with superglue would be in order.

The cracks are usually visible at the butt end of a log when you cut it, they radiate out from the core.

 

[Muskyman]

Thanks guys.  I’ve got a ways to go before I have to deal with them. I’m probably around 5/8 to 3/4 thick right now. Don’t recall if any of them run off the edge but, I’ll keep an eye on them.

[Muskyman]

Have done a little more work on the bow. Got it shaped and added some to the handle section. Still stiff so I’m going to thin the limbs more before I do any straightening on the limbs. Looks like I’m going to have some run off with the wind shakes so I’ll probably have to wrap the area with something. I’m thinking maybe sinew, I’ve got some backstrap sinew.

[Eric Krewson]

Sinew is good, I use serving thread but have used sinew for the same type of wrap. The thread is neater so I have used it in the field at tournaments when someone was shooting one of bows I made and heard that ominous "tink", caught in time I have never had a bow fail with a thread wrap. I tried to wrap a few bows that had a severe break starting and couldn't save them.

Thread wrap and a sinew wrap, I wrap an inch above and an inch below the crack.