Hello all,
This is my first post on the site, and I was hoping my first would be something better but here goes. I had high hopes for a black locust stave I was working on, hoping it would be my first adequate hunting bow. I ended up cutting the stave on the short side at 58" because I had the notion that shorter was better. The design Ive ended up with is not the easiest task for someone like me.. 58" long, about 1 11/16" wide for most of the limb, and hollowed out belly to try and mirror the back (just with scraper). Planned for a slightly bendy handle, and wanted to sinew back it if all went well.
Since the bow was on the short side, I wanted to reflex the tips for a smoother draw or less stack. I have a tendency to make poor decisions from being impatient and when I decided to finally try bending the tips, I went with dry heat. I rushed it and cracked it!
It wasn't horrible, and i thought, if it could be salvaged, I still want the other end to match, so I went ahead and steamed the other end but rushed that one also!!
So I have two cracked reflexed tips and I am wondering if they can be fixed by wrapping with sinew or rawhide, or laminating something over top. I had the idea that antler laminated just at the tips could look cool. Is that worth trying or am I just going to have to make a much shorter bow?
I tried getting a piece of antler shaped right already and it would be a challenge to get it right for a good bond.
One crack is fairly mild and the other is more prominent, running about 1/4 of the way into the thickness of the tip and about 1" lengthwise.
Any advice is much appreciated!