Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Bayou Ben on January 04, 2019, 12:40:00 pm
-
I normally don't get too upset about bows breaking as it happens, but this one admittedly is disheartening.
This is the osage bendy bow that I originally had help from Half Eye (Rich) on. I got it tillered out and shot it a few times then got it all finished up. The finish was nice and dry and I went out to shoot it at lunch and this happened.
Would a sinew wrap help this at all or is it toast?
Lesson learned. I should have shot this bow more before finishing it.
-
Ben thats a wicked looking crack in a bad place as im sure you know.all i would do is wrap it and hope for the best.i sure wouldnt trash it without a try.sorry for that i enjoyed the post with Rich helping along.
-
I would try to sinew wrap it, I agree give it a try,,
-
When laying out that bow did you follow the grain lines around that knot? It doesn't look like the limb is any wider there. That might have been the cause or at least part of it.
-
Thanks Steve and Brad. I'll wrap it up and see what happens.
Clint, the stave wasn't wide and it was sawed on one side and the knot was right in the middle. So I didn't have much room to really follow the grain. That knot was my biggest concern, but I'm not sure what else I could have done with it. http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,64560.msg907497.html#msg907497
Looking at it again, I guess I could have left a little more width than I did.
-
yes I agree,, u were not able to follow the grain wide enough around the know,,,, that looks like the cause,,
I think a wrap will work,,since the bow did not blow,,
-
Like the other guys have mentioned, you needed extra width around the knot to compensate. I see a lot of bowyers not compensate, and sometimes get away with it. Always take the time to compensate you won't ever have a problem.
-
I agree with trying a wrap, but I would try to force in some super glue into the crack first, then wrap.
-
I think it was wide enough, you rounded the edge corner too much and violated a ring. Keep the edge a little sharper(more wood) at the knot and it would have been fine. JMHO....
DBar
-
I'm pretty sure The Outlaw hit the nail on the head. As said, if you follow the grain around a knot you can poke the punky wood right out and leave it with a hole in the middle.
If you don't have the width, I think the best thing you can do is leave it thicker.
That said, I think your bow has a chance if you can fill the crack w/ CA, clamp it back against the limb, then wrap the heck out of it w/ sinew.
Best of luck Ben, the tiller looks awesome.
-
Never liked a beautiful woman with Bandaids all over her.
I'd start another,
I've got one with a bandaid and don't shoot her anymore :)
DBar.
-
this bow has a sinew wrap,, I got it sinewed and heard a pop,, well the bow was coming apart close to the handle under the sinew,, I was pretty disappointed,, but thought well Ill give it a try,, I sinew wrapped the area,, and put a thin rawhide over it,, to dress it up a bit,, put a copperhead on it,, and that year killed a nice spike, ,on that day it was the most beautiful bow I had ever made,, (SH)
-
Thanks for the responses guys. Nice deer Brad.
I’m normally not one to bandage a bow but I had high hopes of hunting out the rest of the season with this primitive stick. And it came out exactly how I wanted it. I’ll sleep on it and see how I feel about it in the morning.
It already has sinew on it. I wrapped a wind check near the tip and I placed a few strands around the center of the bow for hand placement.
-
The bend on that stick is beautiful! I’d absolutely glue it and sinew wrap it and shoot the fool out of it to see if it’d break. It’s a NA style D bow and if it takes the repair and survives, it’ll be true to style I believe. Pretty sure the native bowyers wouldn’t chunk that stick in the fire without trying to save it.
-
I like that attitude Morgan. I should wrap it up and TRY to break it. If it survives then it was meant to go in the woods with me.
-
I don't think that crack will be fatal after soaking it in superglue and giving it a good sinew wrap. Go above and below the crack about 1/2" for extra insurance. Every bow I wrapped with a similar crack is still shooting, some 10 years later.
The people who tell you to trash the bow or it is too cosmetically flawed with a wrap probably don't have much experience in this area and are just offering an opinion without the experience to back it up.
I have wrapped at least a dozen bows, if the crack passes the centerline on the centerline on the bow no wrap can keep it together, your crack is relatively minor.
Now this is a crack! This bow was broken in a house fire when a beam fell on it. The owner wanted me to try to save it so I glued all the parts back together with urac and gave it a sinew wrap to hold the parts together, as far as I know the repair never failed. This bow is bamboo backed, the big line you see it the glue line for the bamboo backing which came loose but didn't break.
-
Guys,
I wasn't telling him to trash bow. I said I'm not the type to do it.
Respectively
DBar
-
Bayou, You can save that bow. I downloaded a pic you posted of the original break. Added a red line. Just to the right of the line is what I believe caused your problem.....the very edge of the limb in that spot has a sharp corner, but is well rounded both sides of the sharp corner. Combined with the "stiff" knot and the rounded edges elsewhere you concentrated uneven force right there. And still it did not break through which says your tiller is very good.
Here is how I would make the repair....glue the crack back up and clamp it "just tight". When that is dry gently round off that sharp edge so it blends with the limb edge above and below the crack. Rough the wood with something like a scotch-brite pad. Spread some hide glue on the area and wrap with narrow cut raw-hide strip. About 3/8" wide. Here is the "trick" to strong hide wrap.....when you soak the rawhide to soften it (after ya cut into a strip) Do not completely soak it mushy....just enough to allow you to stretch it a little without breaking it....really mushy equals really weak. Wrap the area about 1-2 inches below the knot and pull the strip fairly tight buy not far enough to break it. So spread some hide glue, and let jell...then wipe it all over your lacing (strip) and wrap the area....let that jell good and wrap it over with cotton bandage and leave it for 2-3 hours and carefully remove the bandage....let dry. Ought to last you as long as your gonna need.
Sorry about the break but think if you had rounded the limb corners the same the whole length it might not have happened......the bow it too nice to scrap. hope this helps.
rich
-
helps to add the pic ....duh
-
Is a rawhide wrap as strong as a sinew wrap?
-
I had a juniper bow that was destined for failure after I had sinewed it shot it a bunch, then it developed massive cracks down the side of the bow, one that no bow could survive, so I filled them with glue, covered the sinew and sides with rawhide, and proceeded to break it...well, breaking was the plan, plans don’t always work out. As I approached 4” over draw length, waiting for her to blow.........she still shoots today and holds 3” of reflex, and is one of my favorite bows.
-
I prefer sinew,, but thats just my personal preference,,I think it might be a bit stronger )P(
-
I think sinew draws up tighter, if you don't have any I can send you some.
-
I would go with the sinew. My hunting bow, that I had been shooting for about a year, decided to develop a splinter. Brad was with me when it happened, stump shooting. It was about a week before elk season opened. I did a sinew wrap on the splinter, about half inch above and below. I put superglue on the sinew wrap and its still holding 6 years later. Good luck with your repair. It'll work.
-
Thanks for all the help guys.
I do have some fresh sinew I just processed a couple weeks ago, but I don’t have rawhide.
I’m going to round those spots you mentioned Rich and clamp it tight with glue and once that dries wrap it liberally with sinew.
I’ll let you all know how it turns out.
Thanks again.
-
Lots of good advice from folks who know what they're talking about for sure. After getting "patch" advice from Dean Torges, I came up with a modification of his methods. Glue the crack with a very thin super glue (Loctite 420). Clamp and let set up. Then wrap the cracked area with 4 wraps of ripstop nylon pulled tight soaked in cheap super glue. Wrap about 1/2" past the crack on either side. Spread the super glue on the nylon while wrapping with your finger inside a plastic grocery bag. After that sets up wrap the entire patch with mouth chewed back sinew 2 layers. After completely drying for several days cover with Titebond 3. I like 2 layers. Then cover with Massey finish to complete the waterproofing. Been using this patching method for over 10 years. The patch has held up in wet mountain conditions on my bows. Just my way of fixing that has worked.
-
I've had success wrapping those types of problems with B 50 set in epoxy. I've also used hide glue and sinew.
The picture perfect tiller we all crave is not the best tiller for a bow nor do I think it is for that one.
I was taught to leave knotted areas slightly stiffer in relation to the rest of the limb...just a little bit.
Jawge
-
I've had success wrapping those toes of problems with B 50 set in epoxy. I've also used hide glue and sinew.
The picture perfect tiller we all crave is not the best tiller for a bow nor do I think it is for that one.
I was taught to leave knotted areas slightly stiffer in relation to the rest of the limb...just a little bit.
Jawge
[/queote] x2
-
I've had success wrapping those toes of problems with B 50 set in epoxy. I've also used hide glue and sinew.
The picture perfect tiller we all crave is not the best tiller for a bow nor do I think it is for that one.
I was taught to leave knotted areas slightly stiffer in relation to the rest of the limb...just a little bit.
Jawge
So are you saying the tiller shape shouldn’t be circular or just that the knot area should be stiffer?
If I could go back I would have left more wood around the knot. Live and learn. This was my 1st Osage stave.
-
since its your first osage,, even more important you keep it shooting,, (W
-
If you have a risky looking knot or extra wood growth compensate for a defect its safe to leave an area a little stiff in that area.
-
The sinew and glue has dried on the wrap. I held it at draw for a few seconds and shot it a couple dozen times. Seems like it’s holding well and shooting fine.
And it was so close to the center now I have a nice primitive handle :)
I’ll shoot it some more before I consider it complete success.
Thanks for the help. This bow definitely needed to be fixed.
-
Good deal...Glad it worked out for ya.
-
Extra wood around the knot and leave that area a little stiffer. That has noting to do with tiller shape. Jawge
-
BEN I would wait till its proven it self and the cover it with a wrap of your choice.the hide glue has a tendency to become sticky sometimes due to moisture and sweat from your hand.
-
BEN I would wait till its proven it self and the cover it with a wrap of your choice.the hide glue has a tendency to become sticky sometimes due to moisture and sweat from your hand.
I didn't think about that. The sinew has been covered with TB3, and then I plan to go over it with a few coats of tru oil. Do you think that will be enough to keep it from becoming sticky?
-
that will probably work, a nice sewn on leather handle would look nice too,,
-
that will probably work, a nice sewn on leather handle would look nice too
x2
-
Sounds good. I didn't want a handle or anything more than was necessary for this bow, so I'll leave just the sinew unless I start to feel it get sticky.
-
sounds good,, congrats on your bow,,
-
Glad you were able to learn and still get a shooter. Don't ya just love happy endings? (-S