Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: emd023 on January 14, 2014, 09:46:27 pm
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my first bow is almost complete. but now that im almost done tillering ive been hearing cracking noises during each draw. is there anything I can do?
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Start with not drawing it anymore! Then you need to examine the back carefully for a crack or splinter. Rub a cotton ball up and down the back and even an invisible splinter will snag it. Once you find it culprit then we can give you better advice.
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didnt find any splinters.
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How about some details on the bow?
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its a maple backed red oak board ELB. heres a pic from a few weeks ago
(http://i.imgur.com/Tz49Fr1.jpg)
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Cracking noises are never a good thing with wooden bows.
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Heavily waxed string in a cold climate can make noises like cracking, string riding up in the nock at full draw. Steve
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the string isnt waxed. and it sounds like its coming from the bow.
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What is the glue?
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titebond II
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I would suggest the cottonball trick on the back and belly in both directions. Rub the heck out of it. If that doesn't produce the culprit then it may have been the glue joint. Possibly, but not likely an interior wood fracture. Do you have more pics you could post at rest, brace, draw or tillering pull? The more the better.
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I agree with longbow steve. ;)
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Why if the string isn't waxed?
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I'm almost willing to bet its the glue joint on the riser. Always happens to me, no matter what I do, whenever I build a board bow >:(
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I'm almost willing to bet its the glue joint on the riser. Always happens to me, no matter what I do, whenever I build a board bow >:(
All you have to do is make either the belly board thicker to start or add a powerlam and handles will never pop off. :)
So does it happen at the same part of the draw?
Are you certain it isn't the string running incorrectly in the nock?
If it was the glue chances are it would have blown.
Potentially it could a laminar seperation going on somewhere.
But my first question is the important one!
With red oak in a narrow crowned belly it could just be the chrysals appearing!!!! ;) ;) ;)
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I agree with mike that the belly may be failing.shine up the belly with some fine sand paper and add some shiny finish like poly or vegetable oil,hold it to a light source at different angles they will stand out.they will look like little scratches or appear to be cracks in a a glossy finish.hold the bow on a horizontal and fretts will be on the vertical plane
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Brace the bow then try the cotton ball
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Put it on the tillering tree and exercise it A LOT. Hopefully you have a tree with a pully so you can stand far away. In my opinion, you should try to find out exactly what the problem is and that requires you to pull the bow and exercise it... until you can see something wrong like excessive set, hinging, cracking, de-laminating, or splintering. Once you've found the problem (cracking noises always indicate some sort of problem) you can correct it on the next bow.
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I had a board bow making some scary noises a while back. It turned out to be the string. I replaced the one I made with a store bought string the noises improved a LOT. I worked the nocks a bit more, made a new string and so far it's not broken and the noise is gone. May not be the same issue with yours though, just my 2 cents.
Be careful though, I'd rather build a second bow than pick pieces of my first one out of my body!
Mark
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I had a bamboo backed ipe bow do that once. Turned out the bamboo was failing and lifting splinters. I couldn't tell, cuz the bow was backed with SSs. It didn't do it every time it was drawn either, but it eventually failed.
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I agree probably glue joint...I also agree with Mark..brace it rub the cotton ball up and down...better chance its coming from back than belly..gut
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i will be home to work on it in a few hours. but i do have some crappy string on it. It some old twine that is fraying pretty badly. will update soon.
also i appreciate all of the helpful replies.
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old twine..like bailing twine??? sisal??? you are one brave builder ...and twine or sisal will creak with stress....lol...wow more guts than .....
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so i took the string off and could still hear some cracking. still no sign of any splinters or anything. but i did notice this on the handle.
you can see where the handle and the bow are perfectly flush then it begins to get dark. not sure what this is. i cant feel anything really when i run me fingers over it.
(http://i.imgur.com/KHJMkdf.jpg)
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That, my friend, is bad news. The handle is trying to pop off! In fact, it will, rather sooner than later. That means that the bow is bending in the handle. The oak is not thick enough in the handle to completely resist bending without the maple handle addition. It can be considered a design error. You should have left the oak thicker in the handle, before gluing the maple to it.
Remedy:
Remove the maple handle. Glue on many thin pieces of wood to create a new handle, many layers of less than 1/8" thick. Make the handle a bit longer and with longer fades.
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That, my friend, is bad news. The handle is trying to pop off! In fact, it will, rather sooner than later. That means that the bow is bending in the handle. The oak is not thick enough in the handle to completely resist bending without the maple handle addition. It can be considered a design error. You should have left the oak thicker in the handle, before gluing the maple to it.
Remedy:
Remove the maple handle. Glue on many thin pieces of wood to create a new handle, many layers of less than 1/8" thick. Make the handle a bit longer and with longer fades.
the oak is a bit thicker in the handle. it rises up a bit to where the handle sits so i can take the handle off without cutting into the oak. should i just use a bandsaw to remove the handle?
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You could always try turning it into an English longbow, rather than an American longbow which it is at the moment. Take the separate handle off, and get the bow bending in the middle like a true ELB and you'll avoid any issues such as handle pop-off plus it'll look and feel far more like a longbow!
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It sounds like the handle is the culprit. But if you suspect the back, rub the limbs down with mineral spirits. That will reveal any flaws in the surface of the wood until mineral spirits evaporates.