Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: footfootfoot on January 17, 2012, 05:03:22 pm
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My first and second bow and a sinew question.
The first is a little Ipe bow I made for my 4 y.o. daughter. I put a small piece of maple on the belly as a handle and to stiffen the bow a bit but it ended up with too much draw weight for her so I tillered it down to about 15# at full draw.
I ended up snapping it by over-drawing it. Prior to that it was a whippy little thing that could fling a 28" arrow about 150 feet. It snapped right in the middle so I took the two limbs and attched them to a new riser sort of like a take-down bow, but fixed.
The whole bow was backed with several layers of sinew.
It's pretty ugly right now, but nothing that a little bondo and Red Marine enamel won't cure (I kid)
The second is a Black locust/American Beech laminate with sinew back and a White Oak riser. I'm still tillering this and have a question about how many layers of sinew to apply and whether what I'm doing looks correct.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
(http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/u480/foot3x/ipe-bow.jpg)
(http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/u480/foot3x/ipe-bow-profile.jpg)
(http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/u480/foot3x/mewipe.jpg)
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pictures aren't showing :-\
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I sorted out the photos issue
Here is the locust bow:
(http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/u480/foot3x/sinewdetail.jpg)
(http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/u480/foot3x/arrowshelf.jpg)
(http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/u480/foot3x/locustbowlength.jpg)
(http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/u480/foot3x/bowprofile.jpg)
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I'm going to guess that you sanded the sinew a bit after the sinew dried? Would I be right? :laugh: If not, than I would guess that you didn't add a bit of glue on top of the sinew after sinewing, or had thin glue... I don't know, just guessing from the looks. I have trouble with combing out the sinew, but it is better to try to comb it straight. I have seen (videos) of a turkish bowyer and a couple korean bowyers combing the sinew out on a board and then adding it in layers. Both used big sections and sinew to cover the entire limb, not the "brick wall" method that the bowyers bible recommends.
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Yeah, I sanded it a bit to see where I was. It was pretty lumpy. I thought I had kept it pretty straight, but obviously not. I plan to put a final coat of thin glue at the end.
The tendon pieces I had were about 10" long so I did the brick wall thing with overlaps.
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I have seen better but have also seen a lot worse, :)don't look that bad to me,I would be careful with adding glue,if you get to much it will crack everytime you draw the bow,if you had plenty of glue on the sinew when you laid it on I would just let it cure unless I had a spot I knew was thin on glue then I might add a little there. 3 layers should be plenty. :)
Pappy
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Snakeskin is popular over sinew not only because it seals it well, but also because it means the job doesn't have to be perfect. :) I agree with Pappy, I don't see anything wrong with your sinew job and, unless you're trying to raise the draw weight on the bow, I think 3 courses is plenty. I like the save on your daughter's bow too.
George