Can I save it? Hickory Selfbow

[NYArrow]

I have been working away very slowly at completing my first bow. There has been a great learning curve in all of this, atop of procuring the means to make a bow. Longstory short...I began with 67"nock to nock 4" handle 1 3/4" fades to 1/2" nocks and a 5/8 to 1/2 belly taper. After a few mistakes and technique learning I had my first bow tillered to 60# @ 24". I was shooting for 60# @ 28". Here are the pics of this mornings work. I strung up to 7.5" brace, exercised the limbs and at about 24" a nice crack popped onto the back. Look at the pics and let me know your thoughts. If I can't save it I'm fine with it but would like to if there is a option that would be worth while.

(Crack)

 http://www.kodakgallery.com/imaging-site/services/doc/5256:820925920409/jpeg/BG/async

Bow 35lbs at 20"

 http://www.kodakgallery.com/imaging-site/services/doc/5383:411215920409/jpeg/BG

[KochNE]

Possible to save it with Urac 185 and a backing...but not worth it.  With horrible grain/ ring violations and a humongous knot...it'll always be a time bomb.  Tiller looks pretty good...not your fault.  But I seriously doubt anyone could make a trustworthy unbacked bow with that piece of wood.

[George Tsoukalas]

No, it's gone. Right on the knot. My guess is the limb was bending too much at the knot. When you tiller a limb with a knot tiller so the knot appears flat. Jawge

[George Tsoukalas]

There also appears to be some ring violations on the back. Jawge

[okie64]

That doesnt look like hickory. Looks like maple. Either way it probably cant be fixed with that knot in it. Take what you've learned and start another one.

[John Lipinski]

First things first, toss that; it's firewood. The grain pattern was doomed to begin with; a knot and grain runout... not good. Start over with better stock--it'll be safer that way and it'll give you a bow that can shoot for a longer timespan. If you haven't already, look up 4est trekker's so ya wanna build a bow thread--it's around here somewhere. It looks like you have the knack for it. Everyone here's with you 100% of the way, so if you have any questions as you go along, feel free to ask. Don't get discouraged--if you ain't breakin 'em, you ain't makin' 'em.

[KochNE]

Also noticed...the edges look like they're fresh off the saw.  For the next one...  Get some 80 grit & round the corners off to the radius of a pencil before it gets to bending too much to help prevent a similar situation.

[Rain Man]

So where on your limb was the crack?  Maybe your tiller was off.  From the pic of the bow on the tree (still with a long string), it looks like its pretty stiff on the last half of your limbs.

I think maybe on your next bow you should slow down a little and make sure your tiller is near perfect before doing what you did, pulling 60# (target weight) 4 inches before your target draw length.  IMO, the higher you want your poundage, the more exact your tiller has to be. Being that it was your first bow, maybe you were excited and rushed things.  Make one of the "tillering gizmos" to be sure you limbs bend evenly.

But of course, maybe it was all the knot's fault and your tiller was perfect.

[NYArrow]

I had a feeling this would be the recommendation. Thanks for all the pointers though. I have a piece of red oak I'm going to make a kids bow for my son out of next. That should give me a bit more experience before moving on to another for myself.
Jawge- you said to tiller so the knot appears flat. What do exactly do you mean? The limbs were flat both front and back.
Koche- I had considered rounding the edges but was conflicted by other sources. I had seen multiple folks round them. Yet elsewhere I recall reading to keep em flat and square so more wood is working for the bow. Anyhow that didnt work so I'll certainly round em next time!
Rain man- I did use a gizmo and it did help a great deal. That with a mic guage helped me to keep my belly taper near perfect. My biggest error was in the side tapers. (went too narrow)

[NYArrow]

Okie: After looking a bit I'm sure you are right. Good to know. I was given what I thought was two large pieces of hickory 72x3x3. Being new to all this I wouldn't have known the difference. Its funny now though because every piece of wood I see I inspect the grain pattern etc. Some kind of sickness I guess. Anyhow good eye and thanks for pointing it out!

[John Scifres]

George means to not let it bend so much at the knots.

Have you read this:    Ferret\\'s Board Bow Instructions

[George Tsoukalas]

Yes, John said what I meant much better than I did.    Jawge

[George Tsoukalas]

It is toast but look at the bright side. You get to start another. The more bows you start, even if they break, the more you learn about selfbowyery. It was true in my case and still is. Jawge

[George Tsoukalas]

Sorry about these multiple posts. You are working on your first. Yes, you will learn lots by working knotty twisted wood but you may get discouraged. Get a nice straight log stave or head to a lumberyard or box store and get a nice straight grained piece of red oak. Boards can make good bows and you will learn to tiller. There is board info on my site. Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[Aznboi3644]

I wouldn't use ANY board with a knot in it.

Doomed to fail anyways...why waste money on it.