sinew backing oily wood

[dragonman]

does anybody have any experience with applying sinew backing to oily woods like ipe, i have managed to glue a bamboo backing to ipe after seriously degreasing it, but have been unsucsessful with wood glue, so i am a bit nervous about trying a sinew back with hide glue??

[knightd]

I would prep the back of the bow and then warm it up to make the oils come up then clean it really well with acetone and right after you clean it size the back with the hide glue

[JackCrafty]

I have a few ipe bows that I backed with sinew and I didn't prep them in any way other than sanding and wiping with a damp cloth.  The sinew and hide glue show no signs of separating.  I did this before I read that it is better to degrease the wood before applying sinew.

I think some ipe species are more oily than others....so I would degrease it just to be safe.  You should be fine either way.

David's method make a lot of sense too.

[Hillbilly]

I sinew-backed a really oily osage stave once, degreased it with Red Devil lye, roughed it up and sized it, and the hide glue stuck like...well....glue.

[bcbull]

 i use acetone ,,  never had a plm degresin one that way but iv also been told that napatha sopa works real good   but havent tryed it  someone had a post about it here a while back i think  brock

[jkekoni]

I have made sinew backed bulletwood. I roughed the wood with iron saw blade and degreased the wood with acetone.
I got 65cm draw from 124cm bow with 8cm reflex. I have not finnished the bow, so it has just been drawn some 100's of times, but really shot.

[dragonman]

thanks for the advice so far, good sound advice. this ipe is oozing oil, so i will degrease it first and heating sounds like a good idea, but it looks like its gonna work.
can not get lye or naptha over here so i wiil use acetone

[Pat B]

Dawn dish washing liquid(or the Welsh counterpart)and warm water will work also as will wood ash and water but acetone is easiest.     Pat