old sinew or new?

[smoke]

Folks, last year I backed a bow with some sinew I got on a trade.  It felt somewhat brittle and looked old so I soaked it in water for a day before I applied.  Last night I worked with some sinew I collected from a deer a few months ago.  The new sinew seemed to be much easier to work with and created a much smoother backing.  Have any of you witnessed a difference in performance?  Just want to know thoughts before I decide to sinew my next bow.  Thanks much,

[PatM]

The belief seems to be that long curing time is beneficial for sinew performance it just usually takes place on the bow.

[Eric Garza]

I agree with Pat. I definitely prefer to process and use fresh sinew, but as it cures it gets better and better at doing what it does best. A 10 year old sinew-backed bow will be a monster. That same sinew-backed bow one month after the backing was applied might be impressive, but not to the degree it will be years later.

Just my opinion though.

[Eric Garza]

As an addendum to my post moments ago, it's been my experience that among other physical changes, sinew becomes less willing and able to absorb moisture as it ages. So a young sinew backing will be much less resistant to moisture than a 10 year old backing. And dried sinew that's years old will be harder to rehydrate and use than sinew cut fresh from a carcass, or recently cleaned and dried.

[PEARL DRUMS]

I don't have any 10 year old sinew backed bows, 3 years is my oldest. None of mine have changed a bit. Not their shape, poundage or performance. They all feel the same as the day I finished them. Not saying Eric is crazy, just saying mine haven't changed a bit. None ever made any cracking or popping sounds either. You wouldn't even know they have 3 or 4 layers.

[PatM]

Don't you use back sinew though?

[PEARL DRUMS]

I did on all but my very first sinew backing Pat, it was from leg tendons. Not disagreeing with anybody, just adding my experiences with my bows.

[Eric Garza]

I use back sinew almost exclusively, so it's not a leg vs back thing.

When I used the term 'monster' it was a bit of hyperbole. I didn't mean to imply that draw weight doubles or triples, just that it increases noticeably over the first few years of the bow's life, perhaps by 5 or 10 pounds depending on a variety of factors. Years ago I went through a phase where I was making a lot of short, sinew-backed bows. I'm sad to say I don't have any of these old sinew-backed shorties to test their draw weight again.

[duke3192]

I've got a sinew backed bow made in 1956 by L. Stemller, sinew is about a 1/4" thick, except at the handle where he built it up and put in finger grips on the back, it is  marked as 45@28" and still pulls the same, i've shot the bow several times and it is on the slow end of the scale, it also has large antler overlays for the tips.

[bradsmith2010]

I do have a couple of bows 10 years and older(one about 20),, but they are not really well made,, they shoot pretty good and have not gone up in weight,, when I made the bows in a more humid climate,, they did go up in weight after a few months but settled in,, they may be more resistant to moisture as stated,,  back then I did not know how to induce the reflex using the least amount of sinew,, so the performance is average,,, I have some osage bows that have seemed to go up in weight, but maybe I am just getting older  I live in new mexico now so making a sinew bow is much easier in the dry climate,, I am working on a bow with long leg sinew from elk, and it was pretty fresh and easy to process and went on very smooth,,the easiest I have ever had,, so there has to be some difference in fresh and old,, but I dont have a clue which one would preform the best,,

[smoke]

Thanks guys - helpful as always!