Crack lengthwise on belly a problem?

[Wawwunnes]

Hi All,

New to the forum and was hoping my first post would be my first completed self bow.

Unfortunately I’ve run into (hopefully not that big of) a problem.

I’ve got a crack running lengthwise on the belly of my stave ~6 inches from the tip.

It didn’t show itself until I started taking down some of the belly to get it bending, and I’m not sure how deep it is.

Will this be a problem?

Currently my stave is 63 in and is in a floor tiller phase almost bending enough to be braced.

Thanks!

[Pat B]

Looks like a drying check. Fill it with thin super glue and continue on. Shouldn't be a problem.

[Hamish]

+1 with Pat.

Only thing I would add is don't put any glue in until you have finished heat treating(if you are going to), or it will vaporise

[Pat B]

+1 with Hamish

[JW_Halverson]

Or you can skip the glue business and get on with finishing the bow. With osage this is really not something worth losing sleep over.

[scp]

Usually not much of a problem, but I would stop thinning that close to the tip. I would rather add a thin strips of wood or bamboo in the middle and narrow the width of tip sections, on both ends. If you are going to add tip overlays long enough, you can do that instead. If not, just watch out for the depth of the crack. It it turns out to be a full radial crack all the way to the back, you probably need both the overlay and the underlay.

[gutpile]

looks like a slight check.. longitudinal isn't going to be much of a problem IMO.. you can fill it but probably not necessary.. if it was horizontal its be a death sentence eventually... gut