Hickory Splinter+

[Eric Krewson]

I fixed exactly the same kind of crack on an osage bow this year. Scrape off your backing to about 1/8th inch past the cracks edges, open the crack by stringing the bow, fill the crack with super glue, unstring the bow, wrap the cracked area 1/8th inch past the crack with nylon serving thread and saturate the wrap with superglue. You shouldn't have any more trouble from this area.



Here is the bows back. Sure was a difficult decision to scrape that copperhead skin off to verify that there was a splinter forming under it.

[Eric Krewson]

Added another picture.

[roofus]

I wrapped mine last night and intend to finish it up in the next couple of days then I will post some pics.
My nieghbor wants to build a bow so I will help him get started and then start my own next Hickory board bow attempt.
I think it is funny that I would have success with my first two bows with Oak and then have Hickory fail? Seams like Hickory is almost unbreakable.

What kinds of backings have you used successfully on Hickory Board Bows?

[roofus]

Here is a pic of the bow at almost full draw. 27" or so. I'm afraid to go any further.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[sailordad]

looks good to me, but hey dont be scared its only a bow 

[roofus]

Yeah I know it's just a bow. It's just alot of energy as well. Not to mention I may be a bit of a wiennie.
Thanks for the encouragement however.

[sailordad]

well look at it like this

if you dont pull it al the way back 1.youll never trust that bow 2.youll never know if its gonna blow or be a bow 3. if it breaks you learn from it and atleast it wont happen in the woods or at a shoot.

but ya get out the football helmet,chest ptotector and ummm  cup, and dont forget the wife with the camera taken action pics of it happening   

good luck
                                                                   peace,
                                                                         tim

[John B.]

Ask Jawge nicely and he may let you borrow his tillering helmet.   

Seriously, just shoot the sucker and see what happens.  Take photos and give us a post-mortem (if she blows).

[Pappy]

Look good to me but I am like Tim I always pull mine a little passed where I think I will shoot it
at least a few times.Nothing worse than trying to shoot a bow you have doubt in.It will cause all kinds of shooting problems,snap shooting and short drawing to name a few.I know this from experiences. And believe me you don't want that.
   Pappy

[Badbill]

What I would do, and this could be really bad info. Anyway here it goes. I would take off the entire backing strip, sand the back lightly to remove all the glue, and backing. Do the Urac thinned or the super glue trick to solidify the crack. After that dries, I would then sand it for another backing strip. I would then put on a  hickory backing strip, file it a little closer to the edge, to cover the crack better. Then just go back to retillering the bow, but I wouldn't shoot for a real high draw weight. Maybe around #45.
Thats my way. Not sure its the right way.
Bill

[tommy6]

I have had success patching splinters on backs, but this looks like more of a crack that is going to get worse. Its almost full thickness and on the edge, a bad combination. Where on the limb is this crack? how much does the bow bend there? How wide is the limb there? what are the bows dimensions?
Would it be possible to cut the crack out by ripping the limb, making it more narrow? Or if it is near the tips make the bow shorter?
Maybe I have too much time on my hands, but whenever I have a bow with a problem like this I cant jus scrap it. It becomes an obsession. If I fix it great, if not and she blows up in my face at least I learned something. Its only a piece of wood, how hard could it be (to fix) ?

[roofus]

Badbill and Tommy:

I pulled it back a few times and it held. Like Sailordad said it's just a bow. It's just a board bow at that, it isn't that big of a deal to make a new one. They are pretty easy.( No offense to anyone I have the utmost respect for you all ) I'll just call this one a failure and move forward and learn from my mistakes.
Just a side note. Where the crack occurred did have some grain runout.

I did take it out and shoot it yesterday. 70 degrees out in Colorado in January. It actually shoots very well.  Pappy: It is different shooting a bow you don't trust.
But I was mildly impressed with it. I'll just put a finish on it and shoot it 'til it breaks.

On to the next project! Thank you all for your input and expertise.

[sailordad]

ada boy