Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Floridabowyer on April 16, 2015, 10:24:26 am
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Here is a clean sapwood only piece of western juniper I have recently sinew backed in hopes of having a good shooter. Been curing for 2 weeks and i'm trying to be patient and let it season until early June. This is my first juniper and only second sinew backed bow. Its 50 inches total and about 1.5 inches wide. 5 courses of elk leg sinew. Keep hearing juniper is good in compression so I'm hoping for NO chrysals. I did reverse brace the stave prior to backing and right now it stands at 4 inches of reflex. Please give suggestions and criticism.
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Reverse brace it higher, ull lose about half of u sinewed correctly. It's gonna stretch.
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I like it as is. What humidity reading do have it stored at? 3-4 weeks in under 50% is more than enough wait time in my opinion.
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Well right now he has five courses of sinew so adding more to reverse brace it more seems like a moot point, i think it looks good right now just have at it, wait about 3-4 weeks from sinewing and start tillering
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I will brace it a bit higher. I'm thinking about laying one more course down which should help with the reflex.
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When did you add the last course? A few things. You cant twist the reflex up higher if the sinew has been down for a week already, it will buckle. You have more than enough sinew already, you add more and you'll suck the belly up and check it and probably over stress it. Id suggest leaving it be to dry down. But hey, what do I know!?!?!?!
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Pearl,
I'm gonna take your advice and leave it as is. It's been in my air conditioned low humidity house for two weeks. Think I'll wait two more weeks and go for it! I've heard folks say round belly for juniper?
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Id leave it flat to work better with the tension strong back. Tension strong woods like flat bellies and/or trapped backs to equalize with the belly.
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Looks good, where are you FLBowyer?
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was the bow floor tillered before you put the sinew on,, if you have room to take off some wood,, just even the reverse tiller a bit,, it will let the sinew pull reflex a bit better,, and make it easier to brace the first time,, if the bow was already tillered some before you put the sinew on then you are good were you are,, I dont think it would hurt to tweek it up just a bit in brace if you want,, I usually do as the sinew is drying,,just dont go crazy :)
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Missed the part it's been on for 2 weeks. Pearly is the man
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Thanks all for the great advice. There is some extra wood on belly so hopefully the sinew will pull more reflex as belly wood is removed. Glad you pointed that out Bradsmith! Glad to have all the knowledge on here because my questions are endless!
Parnell, I'm located in Leesburg.
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Very cool and welcome to PA. You are new, correct? Do you go to any of the TBOF shoots in Wildwood? Curious if we have crossed paths before. I'm in Naples, but head up to Mt. Dora pretty frequently to visit family.
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Parnell,
Thanks and yep I'm new to PA. Have a friend here in town who used to build bows and mentored me through the first couple osage selfbows about a year ago and I've been addicted since!
I have not been to any shoots but want to. I'm on call pretty much all the time with work so it never works out. I do most of my shooting in the backyard but need to go to some shoots because my shooting is mediocre at best. Hopefully soon!
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Well, I'm always glad to see new blood on here from FL. There seem to be more and more of us now. Perhaps we can catch up sometime and shoot a few arrows when I'm up that way. Look forward to seeing your result.
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Pearl is right on in his advice... In the hot dry Oklahoma summer I usually only wait 10 days for a bow with one thick layer of sinew to cure before I string it. In the winter I wait only 2-3 weeks.
Never had a problem and I actually believe by stringing the bow that soon helps the sinew start working more effectively ...that being said the sinew will continue to cure for some time but the bow will usually only gain weight. Now my experience is only using hide glue/ sinew combination. Not wood glue or Knox.
E
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Parnell,
Sounds great as i could use some pointers on my shooting to improve consistency and accuracy.
I will continually update progress on the juniper.
IndianGuy,
Thanks very much for the info on sinew cure times. I sure do like the hide glue/sinew combo with my very limited experience with it. Really is a great resource having experienced folks to help out.
Thanks for everyones advice!
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Floridabowyer, pm sent
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Parnell,
Sounds great as i could use some pointers on my shooting to improve consistency and accuracy.
I will continually update progress on the juniper.
IndianGuy,
Thanks very much for the info on sinew cure times. I sure do like the hide glue/sinew combo with my very limited experience with it. Really is a great resource having experienced folks to help out.
Thanks for everyones advice!
hide you squirrels. .. lol. .. (inside joke with parnell)
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Parnell,
Sounds great as i could use some pointers on my shooting to improve consistency and accuracy.
I will continually update progress on the juniper.
IndianGuy,
Thanks very much for the info on sinew cure times. I sure do like the hide glue/sinew combo with my very limited experience with it. Really is a great resource having experienced folks to help out.
Thanks for everyones advice!
hide you squirrels. .. lol. .. (inside joke with parnell)
;D
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Looking good Eric!
Isn't all of Florida like 95% humidity year round? ;D During the wet time of year here in Oregon when it is 70-90% humidity it feels like it talks exponentially longer for sinew to cure, making it necessary to create some artificial micro-climate for curing sinew. Air-flow really speeds things up.
Cant wait to see this one all finished up. :)
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Looking good Eric!
Isn't all of Florida like 95% humidity year round? ;D During the wet time of year here in Oregon when it is 70-90% humidity it feels like it talks exponentially longer for sinew to cure, making it necessary to create some artificial micro-climate for curing sinew. Air-flow really speeds things up.
Cant wait to see this one all finished up. :)
i live in miami... our coldest day of the year is usually mid-high 40's and the rest of the time 70-90something... the humidity really isn't that bad as we always have a nice breeze off the ocean *(i am sure it would feel like high humidity to you) but when i moved here from louisiana 10.5 years ago i was amazed that it felt drier here than back home in the swamp.
i put saplings on my balcony and they dry in an amazingly quick amount of time... due to the sun and breeze...
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Thanks Carson! I have kept the stave in our walk in closet in the AC and it seems to be curing quickly. I think the cool low humidity air in the house has really helped with the curing as the part of FL I'm located (inland) is a bit more humid than where paco is located(coast). I'm itching to get this thing tillered and hoping it doesn't develop chrysals. Can't wait to get pics up of it all finished and dressed up!!!
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I can't wait as well. Keep us posted. I have a 41 in ttt juniper in the works at the moment that has 4 layers of sinew which I plan on putting on 1-2 more layers.
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Oglala,
I hope to see your juniper soon. The short bows are really cool in my opinion.
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Looks good FB, I'll be fallowing this one for sure; I plan on sinew backing my next bow.
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Ok finally decided to tiller the juniper bow.
Specs
51" TTT
49 1/2 NTN
1 5/8" at handle tapering to 3/4" just inside nocks
#45 @ 24"
I ended up adding 2 more courses of sinew totaling 7 courses. Backing makes up almost a third of the bow thickness. Freshly unstrung reflex is 3" and pulls to 4.5" overnight. This is a really snappy little bow and so far I'm pleased with the Sinew/Juniper combo.
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Man that's a really sweet looking profile. Love the simplicity of that bow. Awesome work.
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That is a sweet little bow. I bet it is snappy!! 8)
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looks nice congrats,,, :)
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Looks like it came out beautifully, I really like that combo too.
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I love that braced profile, unbraced and full draw rock as well. Looks like and fits the length of a killer horse bow. That bow is sweet Floridabowyer.
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Sweet
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You did an excellent job with that one.
I never found the need to apply more than 4 courses on wood
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Unbraced looks awesome. Nice work
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Thanks to everyone for the kind comments! Think I'm gonna slowly shoot this one in and watch the tiller closely.