Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Aries on January 22, 2010, 12:06:52 am
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So when i began laying out this osage stave i notices a small 1" crack that extended all the way through the wood from front to back. knowing that this crack would eventually cause i problems i laied the bow out so that the crack was in the center line of the bow and would half to travel tip to tip to break from the bow. The levers on the end are bout 1" thick at the base and the handle is approximately 1/1/4 thick. the wood has a very slight helicopter twist and that is what caused the split to spread. I shot around a hundred arrows through this bow and listened to it moan and watched the crack grow slowly. one day i let an unknowledgable friend see the bow, he promptly pulled the string taunt and released it causing the energy meant for an arrow to reverberate through the wood dramatically splitting the bow apart from the lever to handle. i thought what the heck, well see how long this thing holds up. we continued to shoot the bow and have put about 100 more arrows through the bow since the accident, with no issues. This bow STILL pulls 55-60# at 28" and shoots an arrow like a champ!!! ;D
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I'd try to fix that. Glue it together and than back with rawhide is what I would do. In fact, i would have done it right away. Jawge
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At least you're wearing safety glass. :o Man that thing looks like one of those wheelie bows with the split limbs. I'd at least wrap the limb with some sinew.
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I'd try to fix that. Glue it together and than back with rawhide is what I would do. In fact, i would have done it right away. Jawge
well george we really just wanted to see how much this thing could handle. i thought about fixing it but i figured i could either make it into a fun experiment on osage's durability... or a cripple bow ;D
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I'd heavily wrap each end of the split with sinew to keep it from splitting any further. Then just keep shooting it.
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I'd heavily wrap each end of the split with sinew to keep it from splitting any further. Then just keep shooting it.
Exactly what I was thinking...just wrap the ends well...shoot the crap out of it. If it lasts than it will be a heck of a character bow
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Aries.....I too would wrap the Tip end at the Lever with a good wrap of Sinew and Hide Glue....but I would Clamp it at the Handle....drill it ...dowel it with a 1/4" dowel and Titebond Glue...let the Glue dry....and them wrap it with Sinew and Hide Glue...and also leave the Split alone the rest of the way....those Linear Splits in Osage as long as they are stopped before they get to the Tips or before they run off a Limb....will not hurt a thing....Cool Bow ....hate to see it explode ....unless that really just what you want from it
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I'm with you Jawges,and I don't blame you for wearing gloves and glasses. :o ;) ;D I have had them like that before but always repaired them before I built the bow, cool looking anyway. :)
Pappy
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Just shows why Osage is the durability champion in bow wood. You be careful wih that bow. And I am like everybody else and would wrap that with sinew .
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It would be ashame to blow the bow when it can be saved and shot for who knows how much longer. I'd follow Jawge's advice!
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i'd at least wrap it once in the middle just to hold it together a bit better
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Well I would have to say that any decent bow wood could stand to be cut in half down the limb center and still shoot. Iin fact what you consider awesome is the primary weakness of Osage, the tendency to have little integrity between fibers.
With other woods that would have never happened in the first place. The fact that the bow didn't break is actually not that remarkable. It just has double the amount of limb edges which are not any weaker than the outside edges.
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dude thats cool.
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I think i may follow advice and wrap the base of the levers... now if i could only split the other limb the same way >:D
Worse case senario i make another one ;D (Osage is easy to come by in these parts ;))
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Like PatM said. There are several woods that could and would handle this, some would handle it even better. Hickory, HHB and elm come to mind right off.
It is cool though. Just doesn't have much to do with it being Osage.
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It has everything to do with it being Osage...You could never get Hophornbeam or Elm to split like this to begin with...not on it's Own...there is little Connective Tissue between Lineal Grain on Osage...and that this is a weakness of the Wood...HHB and Elm will not split cleanly like Osage does...hell Elm will fight you every step of the way...even with a Wood Splitter making Firewood...but it looks to me like the Linear Crack is running off at the Handle area...so if this is the Case...it really needs to be doweled and wrapped to save it...Aries...since Chickasaw is loaded with good working Osage....do ya want my Mailing Address........ >:D.I aint too far from Ya.......... ;)
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That's what I meant. You would have to artificially split another type of wood but they would also hold up. Particularly if you followed the grain pattern of at least the outer layer. You could test it by drilling a small hole in the outer limb and near the handle and then cutting down the limb with a coping saw.
It's also worth mentioning that doweling will weaken the area rather than strengthening it. A straight wrap is actually stronger.
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This is a Unbending Handle Bow...is it not? How would a dowel in the Handle ...weaken it? I have done many Spliced Handled Bows...and doweled them...and never had a Problem with any of them...I could see it being trouble with a D Bow...or any Bow that flexes through the Handle...but this doesn't seem to me to be the case in this Bow Design.If it were mine...and Aries...you can send it to me...... >:D....I would dowel it...sinew wrap it...and then wet some rawhide and make a Grip from it...so this way ...once it is all dry...you have three layers of Strengthening at the Grip... and it will never go anywhere....unless you sent it to Texas... ;D
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I didn't necessarily mean the bow would break at the dowel but quite a few guys have reported that this does happen. The reason that modern lam bows go to massive risers and various I-beam configurations and reinforcements is because bows do try to flex through the handle.
Within reason a typical primitive stiff handed bow also moves fractionally. From an engineering standpoint drilling and pinning does not do much but sever longitudinal fibers best left alone.
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or..... move on to the next bow ;) :P.. Ty
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HEy Aries,
I've got some osage bows with longitudinal cracks down the limbs, but nothing like that!! Holy cow!! That osage is some amazing stuff. I don't know if you read my article last year called Pushing the Limits of Bowmaking, but it looks like you pushed it even further than it's ever been pushed before. I'm sure other woods would probably handle that crack with no problem as well, but I don't know for how long. That is really cool!! It's the original "split limb " design. AWESOME!!