My old locust bow...RIP (pg 4)

[Mad Max]

 

[Pat B]

I'm getting set up to start the sinew backing. After being up all night while our dogs ran bears off of their territory I'm just not in the right mind frame to get started with this. I still have to prep the bow and get the sinew divided up into usable bundles, hydrating the glue in the crock pot and whatever before I start but today just ain't the day.
 I've set up the bow pulled into reflex. I've used this method before with good results. I'm using a strip of sinew to pull the handle down to the base while the tips are up on blocks. While sinewing I'll just sinew over the hold down sinew and cut it free when the backing sinew sets up. Here are a few pics of the set up...

[Mad Max]

Looks like a nice day there

[Roy from Pa]

Looking forward to seeing this Pat.

I been that up all night looking for dogs thing.

[Longcruise]

Couple years and we get this reverse 911 call.  "There's a bear in the area ".  So we went back to sleep. 

Next day a lady we know tells her story.  She never got the call cause she was searching the neighborhood for her near deaf dog named.... Bear!   She's screaming as loud as loud as she can, " Bear,  Bear,......Beeaaarr".  She suddenly found herself surrounded by cops and animal control people (that’s Dogcatcher for you rubes who live in the sticks)    eventually she got it all straightened out and meanwhile the dog had wandered back home.

They quit doing those calls.

[Pat B]

Bears around here have been on a big comeback in the last 20 years even with a big, traditional dog/bear hunting season. If we had reverse 911 calls because of bears the calls would be more annoying than the bears. There is a power pole on my driveway that has new bear hairs and teeth marks(marking post) almost on a daily basis. I can always tell when a bear is around. Our dog Maggie runs a perimeter around the house with her barking. Last night in our bedroom Maggie started growling about 2am even with doors and windows closed. When she started barking I let her out. I guess she shut up about 4.
 Weather has been beautiful lately, Mark. Low 70s daytime, low 50s at night.

[Pat B]

I got the first layer of sinew on today. Once I got all my supplies close at hand I plugged in the crock pot, added water and floated a stainless bowl with the hydrating glue. While sinewing I keep a bowl of warm water and a damp towel handy to clean glue from my hands as I apply it. The hide glue can get quite sticky. Then I took the bow to the kitchen sink and scrubbed it with hot water and Dawn dish soap...


...then rinsed it with boiling water...


...I reattached it to the form with the sinew strand and sized the bows back 2 times over about 30 minutes, from tip to tip across the handle...


...then started laying the sinew. I hydrate the sinew in warm water first, grab a small bundle of sinew, shake the excess water off and dip it in the hide glue. Once it is saturated well with glue I squeegee off the excess glue with my fingers and lay it down the center of both limbs starting at the handle and work out to the tips. Then I fill in along both limbs trying to use equal amounts of sinew for both limbs.
 Here's the sinew going across the handle first...

...then filing in along both limbs...

...from tip to tip


Some of the sinew I'm using is relatively short(4" to 6") so the application is a bit rough so I have wrapped the limbs with strips of old flannel shirt. This should compress the wet sinew and help smooth out the surface. I'll take the wrap off tomorrow, check the sinew coverage and fill in the bare spots with sinew. Then the waiting really begins.

[Buemaker]

Looking good Pat. That Dawn dish soap is it something special or is it just ordinary dish soap?
I use mostly moose leg tendons which have some lenght so I have started to comb out the sinew bundles on a board after soaking in the glue, before laying on the bow. I use a cat comb like the one in the picture.

[Pat B]

 Bue, Dawn is just another dish soap but it is a very good grease cutter. It is used after oil spills to clean oil off of birds and small mammals.
 I need to get one of those combs for my next sinew backed bow. Wish I had moose sinew. I think what I used was cow sinew. I used it on another bow but that was with the longer strands.

[Pat B]

 After 2 days of drying I went back this morning to "filled in the blanks", areas that needed a little more sinew. I first gave the entire back a fresh sizing coat then added the needed sinew. Once that dries I'll take more pics, then she'll get put up for a long curing session. I'll check her out after a month with more pics and updates. For now, I'll keep her in out utility room, the room in our house with the most constant temp and humidity. After I crank up the dehumidifier in the basement I'll put her down there for a good, long drying session.
Modify message

[Pat B]

...what I added this morning...

[Roy from Pa]

Very cool, Pat...

[Pat B]

Tomorrow, June 2 is 2 weeks since the sinew went on "Phoenix" so I'll release her from the form and see what's up. I know I'll have to retiller and reduce weight. Once that's done I'll know where we stand. I'll post pics.

[Mad Max]

 

[Flem]

Damn, thats a lot of work Very impressive.
Glad to see I'm not the only one with a triple beam

[Pat B]

She's been released...
from here


to here


Not much reflex remains but she should still have enough. I guess we'll see after retillering and a little weight reduction.
  this shows how the sinew strap was placed under the sinew backing, holding the bow in reflex. First just after cutting free...


then once the tags were cut free...


I'm gonna let her rest for a few days before going any further. I noticed while working with this bow why she fretted. Because I kept the belly flat I didn't follow the back completely and where knots or swells on the back made the limb thicker in places the areas between these thicker areas is where she fretted. Some woods may not have fretted but locust is very susceptible to fretting so you can see it didn't take much to allow it to happen.
More to come later.

[Mad Max]

  a few days later

[Pat B]

I did brace her yesterday and almost gave myself a hernia.    The brace height was shorter too but I shouldn't have to pre-stretch the string at least. 
 Maybe next week I'll get some time to work on her. Our daughter is driving in from Houston today so we'll see.

[Mad Max]

 

[Pat B]

I did a little scraping on the bow today. I went over places where I realized it was a bit thick then worked on both fade areas where it is still stiff. You can see the stiff fades in this pic. It looks like a hinge starting on the left limb but I believe it is an illusion from the block mortar joint because I don't see it with my naked eyes.