Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: richpierce on April 01, 2008, 02:23:30 pm
-
I was drawing my 68" long osage bow (54# at 28") this morning and at full draw I heard such a crack sound I thought it had broken. I can see or feel nothing at all even on the tillering tree and the draw weight is not diminshed. I have one small sinew patch over a worm hole, put on with hide glue. Could that be it? I've shot only about 200 arrows with the bow.
-
Could just be the hide glue cracking, sometimes new stuff will do that. Could be the patch slipping loose of the wood. Or could be the wood popping a splinter under the patch. Keep an eye on it but I'd keep shooting it.
-
does the Sinew Patch go all the way Around the Limb??? Could be coming loose....I would put the Patch on heavy on the Back....and wrap a fine layer all the way around the Limb for support....JMO
-
It's rarely a good sign when your bow starts makes cracking or ticking sounds. If it were me, I would put the bow on a tillering tree and put about 1000 pulls on it over the course of a week. If it is still holding together after that you are probably okay.
-
Thanks guys. The patch is just on the back, 1" x 2". The sound scared me. I will draw it 1000 times and see how it goes. I don't have a tree with a pulley so I'll wear a catchers mask and a helmet!
-
I would wear the "lower body" protection too.
-
I would patch it right....and then build a Tree...cause I have the Scars to show what a Blown Bow can do....along with the Battle Scars on the inside of My Garage Door where the Pieces hit too....not a pleasurable experience pulling Hickory Slivers out of your Neck and Bicep....
-
I blew up a bow for the first time a few weeks ago. Wow!!! Be carefull and make sure no one else is around just in case. On a different bow I did a sinew patch it creaked the first time I drew it back but after that no sound. Was the sound made on the first draw after the patch was made or after 200 shots with the patch?
-
Rich, an exploding bow can be hazardous at close quarters. Not to mention it can mess with your mind and shooting if it breaks. You really should use a tree and be standing well back for something like this.
-
A sinew backed bow can make noises at first
-
Be careful. I had a sinew-backed locust static recurve that made one of those "mystery noises." I put it on the tree and pulled it to full draw about twenty times. Then I went out and started shooting it. A few arrows later, I not only heard a louder crack, but saw stars and little tweety birds circling around my head.
-
You can pull the bow to about 20" on a T stick and examine it closely. If there is a problem it will show at that draw length, wear glasses when you do the examination
-
Will be careful. Drew it 100 times last night with no sounds or apparent problems. Pull weight is still the same. I think it was some hide glue popping on the patch.
-
On the tillerboard it would show a cracked area and a risen splinter on the back when pulled. I think it could be the glue, although "distance diagnoses" have to be handled carefully!Think about: its your face behind the spring!
Regards Uwe
-
I peeled off the sinew patch and sure enough, there's a splinter rising up. I think this bow is done. It was a stretch making a bow from this log, which I found with the bark rotted off, badly checked, and with worm damage, let alone the twists and snakiness and knots. I learned something though!
-
Sorry to hear that it is the bow and not the patch or glue Rich...
-
Sorry it did not work out, but am sure you learned lots and can move on to a better one. Been there and done that, now you just need to make more shavings. Kenneth
-
It is good that you learned something from the bow. Jawge
-
Sorry about your luck but if you learned I guess it is worth it,Like Gordon said a crack noise is almost never good,you can almost bet you are going to have a bigger problem.Sinew will make a noise sometime but somehow it is different.If you hear that tink noise while on the tiller board or tree
you better look close and hard and figure out what it is, cause you got trouble.It is a noise
selfbows builders really hate to hear. :) You just got to get back on the horse and ride. ;) :)
Pappy
-
maybe im the dare devil here but.... i would glue the sliver down and wrap it with sinew and shoot it. i have had 2 bows break from splinters lifting...and i mean break. one lifted at the tip and split all the way to the handle. a little titebond, and several sinew wraps and 24 hours later. good as new. i have hunted with it, shot tournament in the rain! and target shot it. never had another problem. thats been 2 years ago and probably 500 or more shots through it. but just be careful- Ryan
-
Thanks all for advice and encouragement. I learned a couple of things from this bow (my third) which had worm hole defects and imperfect tiller, too. Because it was very dense osage with thick rings, great late to early wood ratio, I thought I could get away with imperfect tiller. Wrong. I should have kept working it and accepted a lower draw weight. It had all kinds of prop twist and undulations. So I learned a lot about straightening wood.
I may go ahead and glue it, XL sinew patch it, and give it a full sinew wrap-around and fix the tiller and see if I can get it to hold together at 45# or so. It will be a bow with a story, but maybe not one I'd hunt deer with.
I don't want to get too sentimental with it. I'm finishing another osage bow with a nice deflex/reflex profile. It's a ridiculously small piece of wood, maximum 1 and 3/8" wide, bend through handle, 50" nock to nock. Right now it's at 60 pounds at 26" pull. I'll get some pix and post. Seems harder to shoot accurately than a long bow but is really zippy.
And I'm finishing my first hickory bow with a stiff handle, 1 and 3/4" wide at fades, gently flipped tips, 68" nock to nock, and drawing 50# at 28". This one is a shooter. I stuck a punky branch about and inch and a half in diameter in the ground on a hillside and took my first shots from 15 yards and busted that branch all to pieces with my new cane arrows. That made me a happy camper.