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Wild Plum Self bow
Kidder:
Nice little bow! I like that you kept with it until you got the bow you wanted out of it. I still wouldn’t string it for weeks yet given that from what i can tell you did the sinew only a couple days ago. It’ll look dry but it really isn’t. And the wood will have absorbed some of the moisture as well. I was also going to encourage you to round over your belly edges significantly. Those belly tension cracks may have occurred due to the sharp edges. Maybe not. But it’s always good to round the edges. Regardless, great work!
pierce_schmeichel:
--- Quote from: superdav95 on February 07, 2024, 09:44:46 pm ---Looks good. Good save! I’m surprised you got your sinew dry enough already.
--- End quote ---
I do a couple things to get it to dry quickly
First off I chew the sinew instead of using glue. The glue creates a barrier on the sinew and traps the moisture in. When chewed you just don't have that issue
Next thing is that I just put one layer on at a time. So I put one layer on at night and let it dry by a fan overnight and then in the morning I put the next layer on. Then I go to work and let it dry and when I get back from work I put the final layer on and then let it rest overnight.
Then the next night I take it and do a couple mild heat treating on the belly of the bow to get the moisture out of the wood. You don't want to get it too hot or else you risk the sinew delaminating. And finally after each heat treatment I put it in front of a fan to cool it down and pull the moisture out.
Then bam ready to go..usually haha
pierce_schmeichel:
--- Quote from: Kidder on February 08, 2024, 12:01:12 am ---Nice little bow! I like that you kept with it until you got the bow you wanted out of it. I still wouldn’t string it for weeks yet given that from what i can tell you did the sinew only a couple days ago. It’ll look dry but it really isn’t. And the wood will have absorbed some of the moisture as well. I was also going to encourage you to round over your belly edges significantly. Those belly tension cracks may have occurred due to the sharp edges. Maybe not. But it’s always good to round the edges. Regardless, great work!
--- End quote ---
Hey Kidder thanks!! And yeah I am very excited about this bow it'll be great for spot and stock hunting weighing only 8.2 oz...very maneuverable.
But yeah I totally agree with you on the sinew taking a little longer to dry. I do a couple of things to dry it out more quickly. And yes they do take moisture into the wood and that's why I like to do a couple of heat treatments after the sinew is dried up, to force some moisture out of the wood.
But I'm going to just let it sit for a while now. Let it dry and cure for a couple weeks.
JW_Halverson:
--- Quote from: pierce_schmeichel on February 06, 2024, 03:04:39 pm ---Oops I quoted the wrong message! I was trying to quote Dave.
Anyway JW_Halverson I will send you an email when we do for sure! My family has a cabin there in Lead by Deer Mountain. So, we go to the black hills a lot! I love fly fishing in the spearfish canyon and all of the works! It would be awesome to check out your shop and fiddle around with stuff!!
Also it's really cool to find a local bowyer who is into primitive archery! Do you know anyone else from our area?
--- End quote ---
Not really
superdav95:
--- Quote from: pierce_schmeichel on February 08, 2024, 12:04:38 am ---
--- Quote from: superdav95 on February 07, 2024, 09:44:46 pm ---Looks good. Good save! I’m surprised you got your sinew dry enough already.
--- End quote ---
I do a couple things to get it to dry quickly
First off I chew the sinew instead of using glue. The glue creates a barrier on the sinew and traps the moisture in. When chewed you just don't have that issue
Next thing is that I just put one layer on at a time. So I put one layer on at night and let it dry by a fan overnight and then in the morning I put the next layer on. Then I go to work and let it dry and when I get back from work I put the final layer on and then let it rest overnight.
Then the next night I take it and do a couple mild heat treating on the belly of the bow to get the moisture out of the wood. You don't want to get it too hot or else you risk the sinew delaminating. And finally after each heat treatment I put it in front of a fan to cool it down and pull the moisture out.
Then bam ready to go..usually haha
--- End quote ---
.
Wow Pierce. It’s impressive that you pulled off this bow looking at it again. You seemed to have broken some of the rules on this one. 😝. I like breaking rules myself and like to keep an open mind with new approach to things and test limits. I have so many questions though with this bow build! The fact that you chew the sinew is very cool. I tried it and almost hurled my breakfast. Weak constitution I guess. I may try later with a different batch of sinew for another day. The moose sinew was gross. It just that I have so much of it that I hate to waste it. I think maybe I’ll pound and seperate and wash it first and then dry it in prep for chewing later. We shall see on that later. Another question I have is the heat treatment you applied after sinew. How did you avoid delaminating. This must have been a very mild heat on the belly of a relatively thin bow not to mention the wrap around heat effect that can occur with heat gun. Did you scorch the belly dark like that with a heat gun??? And was there sinew backing on your bow at that time? I’m puzzled as to how you did that and not delam that bow. That’s a lot of heat. I’ve tried experimenting with this myself and I’ve never been able to do it without negative outcome usually resulting in delam somewhere. Did you apply any size coats of glue before you did the chew and apply of sinew? I’d be curious to know how many ounces or grams you laid down with each layer and total mass added to the bow. Anyway do t take this as me challenging your methods. Obviously you succeeded in it working in a great looking bow just so many questions as to how. I have some theory’s but would be interested in what you think is going on and how you got a working bow out of this. Still scratching my head on this one! Anyway very cool 😎
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