Sinew or rawhide? Lots a pix added!

[b.glass]

[Mike Yancey]

That will work, I would put more than just a dusting of sinew on though. Put at least an ounce and a half on each limb and fill that knot hole with wood dust and glue. I am shooting for 55-60 lbs on mine now. I will put some pictures up as it gets there. I have others that I have to finish first.
 Did you ask me about some rattles to put on a fiddle a few years back, if you did I have some small ones now that I can send ya no charge.
Mike

[b.glass]

No Mike that wasn't me.

But I'm very interested in seeing your finished cedar bow. Thanks again! Oh that knot is in the handle section. But I still plan to fill it like you said.

Bona

[walkabout]

glad someone could chime in who has experience in what you want to do. hope it turns out well.

[b.glass]

I would like to use whitetail deer or bison sinew, but all I have is ostrich. It's nice and long but if it's not enough to do the whole job I might as well wait a few days and get what I really want and save the ostrich for tying stuff.

[b.glass]

Oh, I have another question. I want to put elk antler nock overlays on it. Should I leave a space unsinewed and put the antler directly on the wood or can I put it on the sinew?

[walkabout]

i wouldnt know from experience with sinew but i generally leave my tips unbacked and wrap over the transition from backing to tips with some thread saturated with superglue, this keeps me from having any issues with gaps or adhesion to my backing.

[b.glass]

I put the first course of sinew on my bow last night. I should have reread this thread first though because I don't know how much I actually put on there. I might be able to guess.

I went ahead and put sinew over the nocks. Figured I could scrape it off if I needed to and I would have a smooth transition.

Do I need to do anything between layers? Like sanding? And do I really have to let it dry for a month between layers? I can keep it at 50% humidity.

[ChristopherO]

Bona,
When I've sinewed I put all the layers on at one time and let it sit for a month, perferably under a fan after it started to harden some.  But one layer at a time will work, too.  I suspect you would not have to wait a month for that to dry as it is so thin.
On the nock issue.  Sorry I didn't see this before.  I don't sinew right up to the tip but leave a space.  I've read that sinew and the string don't get along very well.  But, when your layer dries just scrap or sand it back some to reveal the wood tip area.  This material sands very well.  The antler tip will hold much better to the wood than it will to the sinew backing.  Remember, sinew can be peeled from a bow on occassions, you don't want your overlay tip to ever do that.
Between layers you shouldn't have to sand as the dried glue will reactivate when wet glue is applied.
Looking forward to your finished bow's pictures.

[b.glass]

Thanks Chris. I think I will go ahead and try to get the rest of the sinew on today. I am pretty exited about this bow. It actually looks like the sinew backed bows that I've seen!

It started kinda slow. I was only using three strands in my bundles thinking slower would be better. But I found that eight or ten strands to a bundle made it easier to see where the sinew was and where I needed to put more. And it was faster. My back was killing me before I was done.

[Pat B]

I've only made a few sinew backed bows and on all I added 3 layers and allowed a month between each layer. I have heard about doing it like this or all at once and I don't think there is much difference.
  Bona, If your sinew isn't completely dry your bow will increase in draw weight as it dries more. I think once the sinew gets transparent and feels dry to the touch it will not separate from the bow if all was done properly. Also remember that the wood will absorb moisture from the sinew and glue and that moisture has to dissipate too. You don't want to seal a sinew backed bow until the moisture is out of the sinew, glue and wood.

[b.glass]

Yes, It makes alot of sense that the wood picks up moisture from the sinewing process. I will wait plenty long enough before starting to tiller and especially sealing. Thanks Pat.

I put more on the bow and would have had it done last night if not for having to process more sinew first. Mike suggested an ounce and a half per limb. I converted grains to ounces and that turned out to be 437.5 grains per ounce. That meant I only had 1/2 ounce on the whole bow after the first application.

 Processing sinew and applying the sinew goes much smoother with just a little bit of experience. I guess the proof will be in the pudd'n.

[b.glass]

[walkabout]

cant wait to see if this turns out for you, its always nerve racking to see if a new method is going to work but its great to get the additional experience and knowledge gained from it.

[b.glass]

Done and out getting some fresh air and sunshine. The humidity is low so though it would be good for her.

[b.glass]

Jim Hamm's book says 10 days of drying at low humidity or 14 at higher humidity and it can be worked.

I thought I would take it off the blocks on Mother's Day and maybe start smoothing it down. I hadn't really tillered it, I just got it starting to bend before putting on the backing.

I'm thinking it wouldn't hurt to wait a month until I bend it for the first time.

[b.glass]

Well I didn't wait a month to bend her the first time. I braced her very low. To see how the string tracked.

The string would want to slip off the right side of the bow. I wanted a more experienced opinion so I arranged to show her to John Scifries.

He gave me some suggestions and I worked on her some today getting her to about 4" of brace. The string track isn't perfect but it doesn't feel like the string wants to reverse on me anymore.

A crack had developed while drying in the lower limb from the fade toward a small knot for a few inches. I wrapped the crack one inch below where it started near the fade to an inch past the fade hoping it would go no further aroung the knot.

When I braced it today the crack continued another half inch or so around the knot.

The upper limb is still pretty stiff so I'm afraid I'm not going to hit the poundage I was aiming for. It was 25# at 12 and a half inches. So if you can figure that is 50# at 25 in. I only have and in. to go. I was hoping to have the tiller right at that stage and shoot it in to get 50# at 26".

This computer is giving us problems but I will try to get pics up later.

[b.glass]

Wait a minute it should gain atleast 2# per in. so I should have plenty of room to work with.

[walkabout]

lol. hope you can get it to your target weight and length without it blowing on you, i know very well how nerve racking those stages are. as far as the crack did you saturate it with superglue? ive done this to every crack i had develop in my most recent bows and they turned out very well. just saturate and repeat till the wood doesnt soak any more in then wrap the area. you should be able to get your weight if it was 25@12" no problem, just patch the crack very well and go slowly.lol. my last bow got a crack and i saturated and wrapped it and i got it pulling 45-50#@ 26 and 28 inches. good luck though i know this ones been long in the making.

[Pat B]

That bow should take on more weight as it cures more. You have introduced moisture into the wood that dries slower than the sinew. I would set it aside and let it cure for a month then check the weight again.