Osage mishap - advice needed...

[cunruhshoot]

Well...I have successfully built two HBO bows and I was feeling like I might just have a handle on the process and then the horrible sound of the creaking bow while drawing. I let down my draw and looked for the source of the creak. Here is what i found...FYI...this was my first successful osage bow with hickory backing and I have a least 400 to 500 arrows through it at this point.

 

This is lifted section is on the belly of the lower limb below the fade and as you can see there was something going on at that spot in the osage.

 


 


Is this a lost cause or should I attempt to load it up with super glue and wrap it?

[Bowjunkie]

Superglue and a wrap won't be enough. If I were to bother with it at all, I'd grind out the break and the entire pin knot that is traversing the limb on a sanding drum, and put a belly patch in there... as per Dean Torges' instruction on his website. I've done so with good success.

On quartesawn wood, try not to include pin knots because.... well, you already know why :^)

[PEARL DRUMS]

Jeff nailed it, 1/4 sawn needs to be thorn and knot free. Looks like you did a good job otherwise, too bad.

[Roy from Pa]

Tomato stake.. Sorry Cameron

[John Scifres]

That's a compression failure and fatal if not addressed completely like Bowjunkie recommends.  It's pretty easy to do and you really have nothing to lose.

  Patching a Bow Limb by Dean Torges  

Good luck.  Let us know how it goes.

[Bowjunkie]

Thanks for posting the link, John.

[cunruhshoot]

Thanks guys i will set it aside for now and do some reading and research then try to recover the bow. I know it will be a light bow if it all works out so I plan on fixing it to pass on to my nephew's son.  Thanks for the insight...

[cunruhshoot]

I should have looked at the link first before responding. It looks like Dean's patch method won't impact the weight of the bow so much. I am more excited now to try it out!

[mikkekeswick]

That's the way to fix it. Just follow his advice.
That's the problem with quarter sawn wood. You say 'there was nothing going on with the osage there'. Oh yes there was! Can you see that full width shiny bit? Well that is every one of your belly fibers cut through where the grain dips around a pin knot. Be very careful of anything that looks like this with quarter sawn wood.

[Eric Krewson]

It has been my experience with a Torges type patch that the fix is temporary. I have done two of them, one lasted a couple of years, the other a couple of months. In both cases the patch itself would develop a crack that would expand into the limb.

[Bowjunkie]

Eric, a crack which way.... laterally, like the patch itself failed in compression? Where in the limb were they located, and how deep and far across the limb did the patch extend? Why did you patch them initially? Do you have any pictures?

I think there are many variables that will help determine such a patch's longevity.

Mine are holding up... knock on wood.

[fujimo]

Mike, he said there was "something" going on, i know when i first read it- (speed reading) i also read "nothing" had to go back and read it again.
"This is lifted section is on the belly of the lower limb below the fade and as you can see there was something going on at that spot in the osage."

what i have found with the Torges patch's is that they need to be wrapped, with something to still retain the patch- i use urac glue, and i always seem to find that after a bunch of shooting, the edges on the belly of the bow seem to be a little proud of the surrounding belly wood, - so now i bind them with serving string. never had one pop out though!
does anybody else find this?

[John Scifres]

Yes, you must keep in mind that this is a bandaid.  A really good bandaid if done well but still a bandaid.  

But if nothing ever went wrong we wouldn't need bandaids, or duct tape, or bubble gum and paper clips, or MacGuyver, or superglue....

[takefive]

I'm hoping that the patch works for you.  The belly on one of my tri-lams has a pin knot like that in about the same spot as yours.  I've put a few hundred arrows thru it so far.
Unfortunately for those of us who buy osage boards online and sight unseen, getting a board like that is part of the risk and fairly common, I'd bet.  I think I've only had one flat sawn board sent to me, the other 5 were either quarter or rift sawn.  If I could find osage boards at a lumberyard, I'd pass on a board like that and I'm sure cunruhshoot would, too.  That's just the way it is.
Good luck with the patch.

[Bowjunkie]

Here's one of the patches I did. The failure wasn't quite as bad as yours, and didn't extend as far across the limb, but it's still holding up. It's a good technique to be competent with, and your bow is no good the way it is, so you might as well try it and gain the experience.

If you look close, you can see the grooves from where the toothing plane blade was run across the glue surfaces... one of the keys to its success.

 

[Bowjunkie]

This is how it looks now.

 

[Bowjunkie]

The whole bow.