Can I save this old bow?

[northstar]

I am trying to get a 15 year old 66" Osage self bow back up to hunting weight. The bow was built in 1996 and left strung and hanging on the wall for more than 10 years. It is marked by the maker 55# at 28". It pulls about 30# now. It has developed about 5"of string follow from being strung so long. Unstung it shows abit of hinging in the limbs,but strung and drawn the curve of the bow does not look too bad. It shoots OK. It does stack, and it seems thick limbed near the handle. Could I try to heat the limbs and straighten them, or what are some options? Thanks Jeff

[Dano]

My opinion is that is a wall hanger for sure now, you can't un do the damage that's done. Sorry.

[Jesse Peltan]

You can add reflex to the outer limbs and make a deflex reflex using the set.

[shamus]

It's ruined. The bow was killed slowly over 15 years as it was left strung.

[Eric Krewson]

Flatten the back, glue on a bamboo backing in a reflex and you are good to go.

You might try bending the bow in a reflex and toasting the belly but backing it would be your best option. Here is a picture off the PA site of a toasted belly, really toasted.

 

My current #1 bow is an old bow I took out of service for cracks on the back that I hated to throw away. I had sinew wrapped the same type of cracks two times and retired the bow when they showed up for a third time in a different place. The bow had been shot at least 20,000 times over the years. Here are the cracks.

   

A new bamboo back made it a rocket launcher and my new favorite bow.

 

[frank bullitt]

That's sweet Eric! Well that says something, go for it! I don't like wall hangers unless they're trophy bucks or such. What's the worst you could do?

  It's a learning experience and might be a suprise shooter, like Eric's. Good luck and good shootin, steve

[Shakes.602]

Eric is a Man Who Knows!!          

[shamus]

Flatten the back, glue on a bamboo backing in a reflex and you are good to go.  
You might try bending the bow in a reflex and toasting the belly but backing  

But the problem is not the back, the belly fibers have been compressed to the point of total ruin after years of being left strung.

You can toast fibers that have suffered compression failure, but the failure is still there. Heating up something that is broken doesn't fix it.. unless you're reforging metal or something.

[Eric Krewson]

Not so Jonathan. I have a similar hickory bow, badly hinged, terrible tiller, tons of string follow that a gal asked me to fix for her. Bamboo will straighten it out. The bamboo will raise the poundage a bunch, retillering will remove a bunch of those crushed belly cells and get into new wood.

[Eric Krewson]

Another thing,I have some local bamboo that wasn't very large in diameter when I cut it, any piece I use will have a pretty high crown. When I want to raise the poundage of a bow being repaired I use the high crown stuff. When I finish the repair on the hickory bow it will be what I call a "hickory bellied bamboo bow" because I will have really thick bamboo on it and just a thin strip of the original hickory left.  

I will have to trap the limbs and be spot on with my tillering to keep chrystls from forming in what is left of the hickory.

[shamus]

retillering will remove a bunch of those crushed belly cells and get into new wood.  

Hmm. that is food for thought, Eric. I can definitely see that possibility. Thanks for clarifying that.  

[Dano]

"I will have to trap the limbs and be spot on with my tillering to keep chrystls from forming in what is left of the hickory."
Eric, with that little Hickory left I wouldn't think that bow would last too long, being overpowered by so much boo.

[Eric Krewson]

It will be a ladies bow with a very short draw length. It is 66" now ntn and I will only cut it to about 64". Very low stress on the limbs and low poundage as well. I wouldn't attempt this repair with more than about a 25" draw.

I all I am trying to do is make an unshootable bow shootable, nothing special. I do like a challenge, just to see if what I have planned will work.

[Dano]

"I do like a challenge, just to see if what I have planned will work."

Amen to that!

[Eric Krewson]

I have done this same fix three times before. People(mostly kids) would buy bows from a Jimmy Taylor protege who knocked them out in about 30 minutes, awful bows, awful tillering.

They would come up to me at tournaments and say" Mr Krewson this bow doesn't shoot very well and has so much hand shock it hurts my elbow to shoot it, can you fix it?"  

I love to help out these budding Robin Hoods so back to the shop I go with these awful bows. I end up making them a completely new bow using their old bow as a core. All have come out really well so far.

[Dano]

Kinda hard not helping "budding Robin Hoods" I've tried to do my fair share of that.

[northstar]

What are the odds of a hickory backing saving this bow? And where is a good source of bamboo for backing.  The owner of the bow would see the bow used than watch it hang on the wall. Thanks for the help.  Jeff

[Eric Krewson]

Hickory backing would work just fine.

One thing to think of when backing an existing bow is how much character the bow has. If it has a lot of roller coaster humps and dips in the back it is unlikely the back can be flattened enough to glue on backing. The same is true for a snakey limbed bow.

The bow you want to repair has to have straight limbs to be a candidate for backing.

[Pat B]

I agree with Dano's first thoughts. You may succeed with the rebuild but will it be what you are expecting?  Why not put your energies into building a bow from scratch and allow this old warrior to retire and hang it in a place of honor.