Can I salvage my bow?

[brett morris]

Ok just finished tillering my first bow.  Two lams of Osage back with Hickory with a walnut power lam and handle.

Everything was going great tiller looked good I thought it was shooting right on at 20 yards I was happy and then I heard the small sound of cracking wood.

After inspection I found that the Hickory backing was cracking about an inch above the power lam on the upper limb.

Now since this is my first bow I dont know if this can be saved? Im sure Im not the first to have this happen and I would appriciate feed back.

Thanks,

Brett

[Steve Nuckels]

Oh no!  Sorry to hear that Brett!  Does not sound good, by your description!

Steve

[Pat B]

What glue did you use?  Did the hickory crack across the back or along it? Can you show a pic of the crack?
   If you used TB glue, you can heat up the backing and the glue will release...with a little help from you.       Pat

[brett morris]

Hey Pat, I used URAC the the crack is jagged and runs half way across the back. I will try to put up a picture but Im not sure if I know how.

I'll try in a minute.

thanks, brett

[Pat B]

With Urac you will have to grind the backing off or you might be able to add another backing over that one. Did the crack follow a violated grain? Where did you get the hickory backing?      Pat

[brett morris]

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[brett morris]

Pat I dont know how to get the pictures to pop up on here but I listed the photobucket above it looks like you can copy and past from photobucket to the JPG and it will open up. There is a picture of the crack and a photo of the bow a draw.

Thanks, brett

[portugeejn]

[JEFF B]

oh crap thats not good. another backing i think.  :eek:

[Pat B]

That backing failed do to grain violation but I wouldn't blame the hickory necessarily. I would say the backing strip was faulty from the get go. I have made many hickory backed bows and the only one that failed was one that had been infected by fungi. All of the backing strips that I used had grain violations and some were very severe violations and none of them failed.
   I think I would replace it and not try a repair. It looks like bias grained(/////) wood in the backing. Usually that is the strongest(IMO). The backing strips I cut myself were of biased grained hickory. The backing strips I bought were flat grained but with lots of violations. None of these have failed.
   I was given a hickory log that had been stored in a garage for 2 years after felling. I had the entire log cut into 3/8" backing strips with a few belly pieces cut also. The first backing I used failed. It cracked across grain. That is when I realized fungi had gotten in. Made some good kindling.      Pat

[kennym]

Not sure of the prob,but I'll help ya take care of it as soon as I get back from CO!     PM to ya!!

[brett morris]

Thanks Pat for the info.  I will grind it off and put a new one on.  The belly wood is still good.

I have a couple of hickory trees on my property Im going to cut down. One is about 40 feet tall should get alot of wood for bows and arrows.

I have five acres of white oak Im going to try some of this for bow wood also see how it works out.

[Pat B]

If you are going to make boards from the hickory have it sawn as soon as you can after felling. I would go with 2" thick boards and stack and sticker them in a dry location and off the ground. Later these 2" boards can be ripped into 2"x3/8" thick backing strips. It might be too late in the season to peel off the bark but you could try. If you are going to split the hickory into staves do so and remove the bark if it will come off easily. Some say it is not necessary to seal white wood but to me it is a small price to pay to prevent any drying problems. I use spray shellac but carpenters glue, wax and other things will work for this.
   White oak will make a good self bow. IMO it is better than red.    Let us know how things go.    Pat