Help....My Bow Bwoke..NOT ANYMORE

[joekeith]

My BBO Dryad Hunter cracked a limb today.  Don't understand what happened or why.  One of my favorite bows to shoot.

I was shootin' for awhile, had 4 bows out takin' turns with 'em.  Everything was goin' pretty good so I started shootin' at my 50 yard target.  Thought the 20 yard ones were gettin' too easy.  So after a little bit of humbling shooting at the long range I thought I'd better get out Old Faithful.  She is the only bow I've got that I'd say was "forgiving".  And from the looks of my shootin' I was needing some "forgiveness".  Well I shot a round of 8 arrows, put the bow down and went after 'em.  Came back, picked up the bow and "bustin' bamboo",  what the heck happened.  
 
I don't know what caused it.  Didn't hear, or feel anything.  It was just like that when I came back to it.

I'm thinkin' about all I can do is try and fill it with some Super Glue and wrap it.  It's about midway up the bottom limb.  Don't know what else to try.  Anyone got any ideas what might work?

Looks like it just cracked about halfway across the limb, and down to the next lam, and followed that for about 1 inch.  I'm really bummed.  That was a special bow to me.  Any cures, or fixes I guess, would be greatly appreciated.    

Here's a view from the other side.....
 
So what do yas think ?  

[PEARL DRUMS]

Looks like a glue line to me?

[4est trekker]

The belly lam of osage is what's damaged, correct?  That's very strange, but here's some thoughts:

1) How long had it been since you shot the bow last?  If it was a long time, did you take time to work the bow in nice and easy?

2)From the picture you've posted, it looks like that lam is quarter sawn and has sound grain orientation.  The center lam looks like it has some grain runout and the point of failure, however, and perhaps that contributed.

3) Did you set the bow on the ground or toss it?  

4) Were you shooting at a range?  If so, were you the only person there?  Could someone have picked up your bow and overdrawn it without you knowing it?


I'd certainly recommend that you contact Mike and Jason and get their imput.

[fujimo]

could patch that, couldnt you??
its on the belly.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Damn what a bummer!

Since it's in the belly lam it could be repaired with a new lam. It would be a huge undertaking but very doable.

I'd take 4est's advice before attempting such a repair myself.

"I'd certainly recommend that you contact Mike and Jason and get their imput."

[joekeith]

4esttrker,
1.)How long.....a few days or so, less than a week for sure.  I pulled her back partial draws and worked it up to full draw about a half dozen times.
2.)...
3.)Yes, I put the bow on the ground, on grass.
4.)I was shootin' at home, by myself, it wasn't overdrawn.

Thanks for suggestions, any more ideas ?  

[SEMO_HUNTER]

With the crack open you could fill it with super glue then put enough reverse tension on the limb to close the crack up, then leave it like that for half a day or so. Then wrap the limb with something like B50, sinew, or similar material, but I wouldn't guarantee that it will hold like that forever. It needs a new belly lam to be fixed permanently the right way.

Sorry that happened to ya Keith, I know how much you loved that bow.

[joekeith]

Look where she broke....maybe I haven't praised him enough lately, I guess I could fix that anyway...  

[joekeith]

Well talked to Mike @ Dryad.....nothing good to report.  He said I could use some Urac 185 and wrap the heck out of it, but said it would just be temporary and the bow would fail.  
That's just the way things have been goin' for me.

If I hadn't quit drinkin' I think I'd go get drunk today. Maybe I'll go look for somethin' dead so I can do this.  
Thanks for the suggestions, later.....

[Walt Francis]

I hate it when that happens.  

URAC and sinew should fix it right up.

Shooting long distance, maybe you were putting a little extra oomph into it.  I had one explode when trying to hit a 3D  that was 150 yards away.  I think it made it to about 31" brefore exploding.

[Sal]

Overdrawing, not that you overdrew it, usually causes a different type of failure, a splinter in the back or crysalls.  That type of break looks like someone strung it backwards, which is what makes it strange that it broke that way.

[Pat B]

I think it can be fixed with Urac(or super glue) and a sinew wrap. Might be a bit stiff in that area but it should hold OK.
  Looks to me like a grain runoff with that 45deg break on the side. It broke with the grain. You may have over drawn it a bit going for the long shot. A wood bow fully drawn is 9/10th broke!

[John Scifres]

I wouldn't hesitate to try to fix it.  A little CA glue and a wrap soaked in CA glue will hold it I bet.

[jsweka]

I wish I wouldn't have opened up this thread.  

I finished a BBO Dryad blank a couple years ago and although it's not my go-to bow, it's my first choice when I want to shoot something different.  I've shot thousands of arrows from it over the past few years with no problems.  Now you got me worryin'.  

[hova]

im with john. get some good capilary (thin thin thin) ca , and go to town. some hide glue and sinew would probably do you even better.

id really look for hide glue and sinew personally. especially if the bow meant something to me.

-hov

[joekeith]

Finally got internet again....the weather has had it down for us the most part of the last couple of days.

So what glue would be the best for this ??
Should I use Urac, ca, or hide glue ?  The bow means a lot to me so whatever would be best is what I want to try.
Sinew....is the artificial on the roll stuff good enough or should I use real sinew?  If real sinew, how do I apply it?

BTW, thanks for the suggestions.  I'll be trying something and will let yas know how it comes out.

AND...
Did everyone but me know that Dryad no longer makes the bow blanks ?  That really sucks....  

[SEMO_HUNTER]

That depends on what ya got on hand Keith. Urac or thin super glue would be my choice and either one soaked real good on the wrap would be sufficient I would think. I've never used hide glue before so I can't help ya there.

The only thing I would mention about the Urac is that it will be a bit messier and would require some clean up after it's cured. Super glue on the other hand would dry instantly and no clean up if your careful with it, so I'm leaning more toward the super glue. Artificial sinew, B50, or like material should do the job fine. Some of that red B50 we made a string with would probably match the limb color pretty close too?

Good luck man, I hope it works for ya.

[Sal]

I would use the CA glue, the thin stuff so I'll run deep into those cracks.  If you wrap it, I suggest something that's not waxed, so it can be coated as well.  

Dryad blanks were great, if they're not making them anymore, there are some pretty good alternatives out there.

[Eric Krewson]

Done this kind of fix before, use URAC. I mixed some urac with a little less hardener(the hardener ratio is not critical according to a tech rep at the Nelson Paint co), Put the glue in a syringe and injected it as deeply as I could in the crack. I clamped the crack to further distribute the glue and gave the area a sinew wrap.

7 years and 10s of thousands of arrows later(last month) I took off the sinew to check on the crack, it is still as tight a fix as when I took it out of the clamps. I replaced the sinew with a super glued serving thread wrap, toasted the belly and am about to retiller the bow and put it back in service. The toasting in a form gave it 3" of reflex so I need to readjust the tiller.

To give you an idea of how good Urac is, here is a bow I call the Frankenstein bow. I had to glue all kinds of pieces into the handle and limbs to make a bow out of a badly torn out stave. No wraps to hold things together and the bow is still shooting, made it six years ago.

 

The current owner found the bow in an archery shop in Chattanooga and sent me this picture to see if I could tell him anything about it. I initially sent it to a guy in Connecticut. How it got to Chattanooga is beyond me.

 

[Sal]

Do as Eric says.