Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: uncleduck on March 24, 2019, 02:08:20 pm
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Took a bit of time off from bow making but getting back into it soon. I had this snakey osage most of the way done when I put it down. Now that I pulled it out of storage, I can see that a crack has developed 1/3 limblength from the tip on upper limb. Crack goes all the way through the limb and I dont have enough width to eliminate it. Crack is in concave section of the snake. Any recommendations on a fix or is it a lost cause? I was thinking possibly a serving wrap soaked in super glue after trying to fill the crack itself with super glue? Would really like to try to save it if possible bc it's a cool piece of wood...but I'd rather not get smoked in the face when it breaks lol
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round off the corners to relieve some of the strain and eliminate some of the crack, then soak with thin CA glue and wrap with strong thread or sinew, then pray. How close to final tiller are you?
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That’s a bummer man. Can’t really see where in the limb it’s at. You could try and fix it up but I wouldn’t trust it. How wide are the limbs? You might be able to skinny it up depending on where you’re at with the tiller. Osage at 7/8”-1” wide will still make a heavy enough bow for killin.
Plus there is always the option of cutting that limb off and splicing in a new snakey limb, I’ve done that a few times.
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Could be dicey, if it was mine I would chuk it in the burn pile.
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Limb is 1" wide at the crack, would have to take 1/8" off to eliminate the crack. Here is a pic showing location
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if you sinew wrap it ,, it should hold,, (SH)
I think sometimes there is more strain in the twisted part,, have had it happen a few times on the snakey bows,, linen twine with super glue is pretty strong too,,
I have done it both ways,, I think you can keep it shooting,,
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Full length pic.
It was pretty close to done from what I can remember.
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How long is it?
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give it a try,, its a beautiful piece of wood,,
if you put a snake skin on,, it will cover most the wrap,,
then paint the wrap on the belly side,, and paint a matching spot on the other limb ,, it will look fine,, :)
if you need to adjust tiller a bit ok,, if the wrapped part is a bit stiff,, it will shoot fine,,
if you are still worried,, after you wrap it,, then just reduce the draw a bit,, that will reduce the stress on the limb,, (f)
then use it for hunting, where you dont shoot a million times,, like a target bow,,it has enough life to make some meat,, (-_)
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You might have had some run out of the grain in that spot. If you narrow it, that might make it worse. Hate to lose one that pretty, but I would never trust it.
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Limb is 1" wide at the crack, would have to take 1/8" off to eliminate the crack. Here is a pic showing location
That’s just about the worse spot for it to be at:/ how wide at the fades? 1/8” out of the width isn’t anything if the tiller is still early on.
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Superglue and a tight thread or sinew wrap will make it hold. If the crack went deeper into the limb it would be a goner but I have fixed several bows cracked like yours and they all made it another 4 or 5 years and 10s of thousands of shots. They will reach a point somewhere down the road where they fail but it will be a long ways off. I have fixed several that made it another 100K shots at least.
I use braided serving thread after glueing the crack and soak the thread wrap until it won't hold anymore.
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I understand a concern for the bow breaking,, I think its worth giving it a try,,
I have not used the braided thread ,, but it that sounds like a positive option,,
a lot of work went into shaping out that difficult stave,,and if a bit of sinew or braided serving will get some life out of the bow,, or kill a deer,, then go for it,
I prefer sinew because I have more experience,, with that,,
I have fixed similar issues and worse,, so dont lose hope on that one,, :)
no offense to you guys that think its a no go,, you could be right and it might blow the first pull,, but I would give it a try so I would know before I scrap it,,,
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It's such a beautiful stave, be a shame not to try something.
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Certainly no harm in trying.
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I would first superglue the crack, then sinew the entire back, then specifically sinew wrap the weak point as well.
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Therein lies the biggest problem. That’s a lot of work....to mend a broken wing...for a bird that may never fly again. Still, if you want to give it a go, might work.
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sinewing the whole bow is alot of work, and I am not sure that is needed for that one spot,,if thats what it took to make it work I would do that,,sometimes success takes a bit of risk,,,
anytime we make a bow, there is a chance it might not work,,even on a seemingly perfect stave,,
you have at least two experienced bow makers that think a wrap will work,,,,
and have fixed similar issues,,
if you want to send the bow to me,, I will pay the shipping both ways and fix it,,I am not afraid to try it,, :)
I dont really see it as a big problem,, a sinew wrap is not too much work really,,that being said, on those snakey ones,, a rawhide back can help on the curvy areas trying to split,,and a rawhide back is easy to put on,, and wont hurt performance,,
ok just one bow story and Im done sorry for the long post,, I dry fired one of the first sinew backed recurves I made,,it was my favorite hunting bow,, it blew into at the handle,,well I was sick,, when your bow is in two pieces its hopeless,, well I sinewed it back together, ,didnt look pretty,, its still shooting today,, that was 15 years ago,,
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That’s part of the beauty in all this. We spend all this time making wood bows. Certainly for most of I think, time spent on them is not seen as a bad thing. It isn’t for me anyway. I too have taken a flyer on a bow with less than good odds, and some of those were worth the effort and some probably weren’t. I would never tell anyone that they “should not” attempt a fix like this. It’s your time and you can spend it as you see fit. No right or wrong decision here. My opinion...I think that’s a bad kind of break on a spot that appears to be under some stress due to the shape of that limb. If you think the time spent on it worth it....that’s all that matters. I would hope you can salvage it and get a bow out of as that is a cool looking stick. I’ll be rooting for your success.
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Could be dicey, if it was mine I would chuk it in the burn pile.
I would put it on Etsy and let some hipster buy it to decorate so he can show his friends how rustic he is. Anything but burn it!
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I too say wrap it ,i have fixed more than one gluing and wrapping with upholstery thread. As Brad said match the other limb and it looks pretty nice.
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My take; repairing bows is just another facet of the bow making craft. I have spliced in new limbs, repaired numerous cracked bows, and backed and retillered a bunch of horribly made bows that my friends owned, I didn't make them.
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Looks to me like the grain ran off the edge of the bow. Sometimes with snaky bows it is hard to shape the bow, especially at a snake like that without grain run offs. Sounds like you have gotten some sound repair advise though. Good luck.
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I plan on trying the super glue/braid wrap repair. Bare with me; it might take a while as I'm out of town for work. It seems the grain does run out there a bit, but I'm not entirely sure how that would ever be avoidable even with perfectly straight grain, as the limb is tapering towards the tip? Anywho, this crack developed in storage (likely too dry?), not under stress, so hopefully if I get it glued up and back to proper moisture content prior to stressing it, it might hold? At the very least, the wrap will hopefully slow down the limb tip if it pops at full draw haha
Unfortunately, its been about 2 years since I worked it last so I can't exactly remember where it was in draw length, but I for sure had it braced and somewhere near finished weight, maybe a few inches shy of full draw. I read somewhere before, "It's just a piece of wood until it's a bow" so that will be how I approach it. It will be a good test as I jump back into bowmaking.
I will be sure to post pics when I get it back up and running! Thanks for the advice!
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The stresses on a snaky limb are very different from those on a straight limb. Being able to control those stresses through the bends is what makes a snaky bow so cool(and successful)but allowing the stresses to overcome your ability is something you have to overcome if you want the bow to hold together. This comes from someone who has not successfully built many snaky bows. ;)
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It ain't broke til it's broke... try the fix, you got plenty of work invested in it already, a little extra and she may be good.
If it wants to be a bow it'll hold up for you. :)
Del
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I would try and narrow the limb a bit to at least try and get the worst run out out of it, then match the other limb /glue and wrap. Bows with that much snake in them tend to toque in the snake and will try and open up. I would definitely try and repair it but wrap alone in that area of the limb and with the run off may not hold. I may be a little different , but I try if I have a problem area to get all the bad junk away and see what is left, then make a bow with what I have left. Wall hangers are for me so they either make a shooting bow or cook brats with what is left. ;) Good luck, beautiful stave. :)
Pappy
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yes Pappy, they do try to come apart,,
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Are there other crack there too or just the one big one?
My first thought was remove the crack going from the bottom to the edge using a draw knife and then retillering.
But wrapping will work too.
Jawge
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How long is that stave?