Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Spotted Dog on September 07, 2016, 11:08:14 am
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I just finished sinew backing a hickory bow. 50" long , 1"x 1" at handle fading down to 1/2 " w. x 3/8" thick.
1 1/2 layers of deer and elk sinew. This is my second but my first with hide glue. I used my moms old crock pot.
Glad I did it in the garage. Now how long does it take to dry and be able to tiller and shoot? I tillered it before
the sinew too.
Dog
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Dog, it all depends on the R/H of your area. I gave each layer 1 month(I did 3 layers)but we live in a relatively humid area.Others may have different experiences.
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I live in Missouri. So I need to wait. Going to get rain soon.
Dog
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If I were to want more layers how soon do you need to do that ?
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Dog it is pretty dry out here in Utah. I usually let my bows cure at least 3 months before I start messing with them. Sometimes I wait 2 weeks in between applying layers of sinew or sometimes I just apply all at once. It just depends on what kind of mood I am in. Lol
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If I were to want more layers how soon do you need to do that ?
Doesn't matter. Hide glue can be re-activated forever. There isn't much point in shooting a bow extensively and adding sinew later though.
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Ok I went back over with a thin layer of elk leg sinew. Looks likesjf389tuy389tn3uewhyfqjhsv`1yhwdbmnnnnmmnm !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess I shouldn't have touched it. Now wait till it dries and level it off.
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Ok I went back over with a thin layer of elk leg sinew. Looks likesjf389tuy389tn3uewhyfqjhsv`1yhwdbmnnnnmmnm !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess I shouldn't have touched it. Now wait till it dries and level it off.
There's a thread detailing applying smooth sinew backing not sure if you eyeballed it yet :)
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Some times it looks bad after applying but sinew shrinks a pretty fair amount you can also sand it smooth after it dries and add another layer I try to make the last layer the smoothiest since that's the outer part of the back ,look foward to seeing your finished bow. You will love hickory & sinew .
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I will let it dry and scrape it a little. I should have left it alone. Looked great before. :o
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It'll be fine Dog.Kind of a rule of thumb while sinewing.If you can make it look fairly smooth right after application it will be very smooth in a week from shrinking.Just keep a few sinew strands around to fill cracks and the hide glue in frig to chill and see what happens.Keep it in a cool place in the beginning day or so for it to gell up good and proper etc.Then to a warmer place to dry later.
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Is it the "made easy" part that makes people avoid it?
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I tried it. The sheet material stuck to it. ???????
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You did it wrong then. Hard to say how since I thought it was pretty clear. Probably let it soak the cloth and then let it gel or dry too much.
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Pat M...I've used the method you've shown on here.It works great.After an all at once sinewing or at the last session of sinewing.Taking the cotton strips off before it gells or making sure it is wet before taking it off and after it has been molded to what you want.
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I do not know for sure. Maybe to soon. Or was too dry and that made it stick. Any way I will make it look good.
A good lesson.
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Good to hear. It is probably just a matter of peeling it at just the right time. I have even left it overnight and misted the cloth with a spray bottle or a brush and water to soften the very outside and then gently peeled it off.
Even if it pulls up a little it's just a matter of pushing it back down and you can re-activate it with warmth and the rubber wrapping.
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Ok then. when you would go about reactivating the glue . How do you do this ? I may not have done that right.
Only my first use of hide glue.
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You can do it at any point that the glue is still at a high moisture content. That gives you about 2-4 days depending on your RH.
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Call me dumb. You do this by adding warm hide glue to the back and letting it begin to set.?
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The glue is set up hard on my bow now. It is in the house near a return air vent.
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Yes, you can actually re-activate the dried glue aggressively with diluted fresh glue and flatten it or do a combination of activating it and adding some extra sinew and wrapping the whole thing again.
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Cool. I am going to let this one dry I think. I will put to use your process on the next one. I may have to bug you first if that's ok.
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The first sinew bow I did I put all 3 layers at once I read every book on sinew I could get my hands on Jim Hamms ,TBB, Laubin, & whatever artical I could & after I was done it look like a big pile of junk & even posted on it and I think it was Pat B said who cares as long as it peforms but after about 2 weeks after curring a little it looked realy good & I did what Ed said filled in some with strips of sinew , in the end it looked good enough not to cover up just sealed it & good to go. Sinew is interesting stuff but has a pretty fair learning curve Im learning new stuff every bow.
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sinew and hickory are not the best combos..hickory is very hydroscoptic meaning it sucks up moisture..I would leave bow in climate controlled spot for a month minimum.. better backing for hickory than sinew... no need to back hickory anyway unless violated...under bark is back...no chasing rings...maple would of been better choice.IMO...gut
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I think hickory/sinew gets a unjustified bad wrap one of my hunting bows this year is hickory/sinew I sealed it with 6 coats of tru oil & then applied 6 or 7 coats of poly and then put a good coat of wax on and I have had this bow in high humidity & rain it didn't lose any noticeable power or arrow trajectory , I think hickory/sinew is on par with any other wood/sinew combo if you seal it properly , before I go hunting I will put on another coat of wax, I love hickory/sinew it's a sweet combo to me.
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I know you don't have to do much to get a bow from hickory. I prefer whitewoods for bows. Nothing against osage .
My next trial is an elm pony bow. Got it made just gotta sinew it. ;D
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note.
I used PatM method on a couple of sinew bows and as usual I modified the simple technique just cause I have an experiment prone nature to me.
I used waxed meat wrap paper with the wax side against the sinew. Just gently taped the strips around to the belly enough to wrap with tubes and put it in the car in the sun. Worked nicely enough with only a few little paper wrinkles and the paper came off easy after a couple days settin in the house. I did not plan to add any more layers and not sure if wax would be a problem in that case.
Looking forward to seeing it done Dan.
Marco
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Always good to experiment. I also use those crepe rubber based support bandages for horse legs(Vetwrap) if I have them on hand. That's probably the best all around material, combining the cloth and rubber together.
It really helps to have some sort of tensile stretch to the material in order to create pressure that can contract a bit as the volume of the backing reduces.
Cloth strips have very minimal capacity in this regard so you need to re-do things more than if you use a more stretchy material.