"pushing my limits" bow buildalong - Cosmetic suggestions?

[ChrisS]

Ok, thanks guys. I'll remember that for next time.

I finally got the bottom limb pulling straight... gave it one last weight check, 55# at 28, then CRACK!

Sinew pulled loose at the base of the curve. I guess it preferred not pulling straight lol. Bad part is that it started pulling the hickory apart with it. Looks like I won't be shooting it tomorrow   :(  

 

Do you think hide glue will hold the hickory back together too if I glue it back down?

[AZStickman]

I'd use super glue gel or epoxy for the hickory and hide glue for your sinew.......Is that a crack on the edge of the limb??.... Terry

[Lewis Brookshire III]

Awww man, Well you could try glueing it back As Terry said but it might not work. Give it a go and hope for the best.

I have had this happen before right at the end and I know how you probably feel right now, im sorry bro. If it doesnt work just jump on a new one. Its hard to get another started right after that happens but after a couple of hours into the new one you will forget all about it.

And this one will have taught you a good bit and the next one wont have the same problems. Thats bow building. Learn as you go. It still stinks though that was one sweet looking bow!

[ChrisS]

Thanks. I have a good MAS epoxy for fiberglassing and urac on hand. I might know somebody that can get me a small syringe. If so, I can inject a catylized glue like the epoxy into the hickory crack and hopefully fill it from the inside.

The crack is only 2" from the base of the curve, so it should be static there... I'm not sure why it cracked in the first place. The hide glue bond tore a bunch of hickory fibers with it.. so I may have to clean that up before gluing it back down. I've never done sinew before, let alone repair it.

I could wrap it too if you think it'd help. I have a few leg tendons left. It wouldn't be as pretty but I'd rather shoot an ugly bow that hang a pretty one on the wall!      

What crack do you mean Terry? There is the obvious one that follows the sinew layer. The separation follows the surface for 1-1/2" and then dives into the hickory. There is a little tick on the left edge of the photo.. that was from the steam bending. It got filled with urac when I glued the hickory on and hasn't caused any problems. Anything else ya see is dog fur hehe.

I'm not feeling too bad about it. Honestly I expected it to blow a lot sooner. At least there is a possibility of repair. The crack stopped there and didn't go any further even when I pulled the limbs back to unstring it.

[Lewis Brookshire III]

Ok, well it must look worse than it is and thats a good thing. I was thinking this show was over but now with your explanation it might be still good to go. Man this has been a nail biting last couple of posts. I hope the glue holds it cause I really want to see this bow perform!

[AZStickman]

Chris right below the seperation and above your thumb.... It's either a picture blemish or a hairline crack.... Terry

PS....After you glue that area up I'd also wrap it with sinew for extra measure

[John Scifres]

Definitely wrap it.  It was bending some there or it wouldn't have broken.  It'll be fine with some glue and a wrap.

[Dano]

Yup, I'd glue and wrap it too, I'd wrap the other curve too just to keep the sinew in place. from what little I've seen the sinew doesn't like to stay put too well on the curves.

[ChrisS]

Excellent! Thanks. I'm going to use superglue for the wood.. I just need to think of a way of getting it in there. I couldn't find a syringe.

I'll play it safe and wrap them both like you suggest. I'm headed to my grandma's for Thanksgiving for a few days. I'll pound out some sinew and glue it up over there.

I haven't seen any repair wraps close up before, how long do you guys make it? Should I wrap all the way from the front of the crack to the curve?

edit: Oh, and Terry, if you mean the vertical one, that's dog hair. Anything else is a blemish.. I checked the limb over and the rest looks fine.

[Lewis Brookshire III]

Just use some really thin super glue and spread the crack as much as you can and it should penetrate deep enough. Just make sure its thin superglue.

[Lewis Brookshire III]

So whats the low down now Chris? I am really looking foward to some pics of a tight group of arrows in a target and a finished bow real soon!

[ChrisS]

Nothin yet. I got back from visiting family on Sunday. I'm going to wait for a syringe. The split goes all the way across to the other side of the limb... I'm really going to kick myself if the center doesn't get glue and blows.

That and I'm all booked up with school at the moment. 3 classes all have "final" projects around the 15th of Dec... I'm going to have to make resonable progress on them before working on anything else with my spare time   :(  

I'm going to try to glue and wrap ASAP though, it kills me that it could be drying while I'm stuck doing all this work.

[ChrisS]

Just an update. I glued it up and wrapped it. Ferret (I think) made a post a while back about wrapping with the sinew first, then putting on the hide glue for cleaner wraps. I did it this way and it turned out nice. Sized the area with glue, wrapped with wet sinew, and then rubbed hide glue in. Last I melted it all back down with the heat gun. I hope it holds!

I won't be able to work on it again for at least a week. Final projects and exams are killing me. Been working 12 hours at a time in front of the computer... with the rest of the time on campus. At least it'll give the wrap time to set up. How long should I wait before stressing it out again?

 

I did manage to finish one of my other small projects though. I got bored during lecture and started a little draw/force curve plotting program last week. It's just about done, I'll post it up tomorrow for anybody that wants to take a look.

Thanks again all for following along. I can't wait to put the school crap down and pick up the bow  

[AZStickman]

Looking Good Chris.....Give that sinew time to shrink up and do it's stuff...... Terry

[TimBow2]

neat bow..........and great build-a-long

[ChrisS]

Ok! I'm back at it. I just added the nock overlays. Superglue didn't work for some reason and I had to reglue with urac. The surfaces were well mated and clean, but a little pressure from my thumb popped em right off.

I put it up on the tree and let it sit braced for a while, then took it back to 28. Everything looks good, no creaking or crackling. Is is possible to overdry sinew? It was crackling all the time before and now that it has been sitting in open air, it has stopped.

I'm going to round out the handle a bit and take 'er to the range and see if she blows  :D

 

[Lewis Brookshire III]

Very nice! Lets se a complete bow pic. Did you get some finish put on yet? Looks great! Im glad it came thru.

[Luke Vander Vennen]

The cracking noises you were hearing were just the glue in the sinew complaining when it bends. Every sinew bow does that at the beginning, nothing to worry about. Looks nice  

[ChrisS]

No finish yet. I have it all sanded down to 220 though. I may still be tweaking the tiller until the hand shock is gone. If it survives the break-in, I might cover the sinew with something. I haven't made a decision on finish yet either hehe. My favorite knife handle finish is oil and wax.. not sure how well it would work on a bow though.

I just noticed that I forgot to put string grooves in the recurves. I'll have to do that real quick and I'll report back after trying to shoot a few    Wish me luck!

[ChrisS]

I didn't make it out to the range... I had to disassemble the string and make it a little longer.  I remembered that I had a ton of plastic bags around so I packed a box and shot it in the living room.

First I shot my heavy hickories until I was satisfied that I could go lighter. The timing is just about right, it's hard to concentrate on feeling it when the arrow impact is so close. There is some vibration, but otherwise I can almost fire it with a completely open hand  

Here's how it looks: