Osage splice problem

[huntinoly]

I just finished tilling an osage longbow, it was my first attempt at splicing billet. The problem is when I draw the bow and shoot it there is a clicking sound in the handle. The clicking sound is in the first one inch of draw, and repeats almost every draw. The area spliced is about one inch thick with another piece of osage glued on top for support and a grip. I was thinking of sawing off the the support piece and steaming the splice to see if I can separate the splices and try to glue it again, but I am not sure urac will separate with steam. Any suggestions? Greg

[islandpiper]

urac will not steam off.  Hmmm.......you might saw/plane off the handle block and expose the splice, glueing it from the outside with thinned epoxy.   Several ways to do that and make it work.   Or, just shoot it till it breaks. 

piper

[Ryano]

Like piper said heat wont touch the urac glue. I'd just try to thicken the handle section up some to stop it from bending. Maybe add a overlay over the front of the splice on the back of the bow?

[FlintWalker]

I suppose you could drill a hole or two through it and glue an osage pin in it.

[huntinoly]

How about a takedown sleeve. Saw it in half and glue it in a takedown sleeve.

[Pat B]

I would try to find the source of the squeak and fill it with super glue. Then tightly wrap the handle with hemp cord from wally world and set that in Massey finish.

[Jesse]

I had a similar problem once and fixed it by wrapping the entire handle area with heavy thread set in super glue. It worked great but was not the prettiest

[Gordon]

Did you glue a piece of wood on the belly for a handle. If so, how thick is it?

[GregB]

How about a picture!

[huntinoly]

Gordon, I did glue a piece of osage over the belly, it is about 5/8" thick, it is part of the grip. The bow seems solid but that ticking noise would not be good for hunting. What if I drilled a small hole thru the splice filled it with glue and put a wood screw in it. I can not do pictures yet. Greg

[Pat B]

A wrap would be more secure than adding a dowel or wood screw. IMO

[dismount]

My first and only spliced osage billet bow worked great for a few thousand shots, then started making a tick sound, then later more ticking. It finally broke at the joint. What I should have done was take the wrap off and glue a backing to the belly, so I did more ticking. Then I glued a thin peice of wood on the back of the bow and that made it solid,using urac. If that helps you any. Dismount

[Gordon]

Okay, with that thickness the handle shouldn't be flexing and you probably have a defective glue joint. I would probably drill two holes through the side of the splice, about 1 inch from each end and fill each with a fitted wooden dowl that is glued in. I would then wrap the handle tightly with braided dacron fishing line (~50 lbs test) and then soak the wrapping with superglue. That should do it - though I make no promises 

[islandpiper]

There are lots of times in this forum we talk about wrapping handes with something, or wrapping splinters, etc. 

I like nylon seine twine or mason line.   When i wrap with it i run off a section long enough to do the job.  Then I make the spool end fast to something solid, like a post in my carport.  Starting at the working end I overlap the first two or three wraps on the bow and then back off till the line is TIGHT, like TWANG-Y tight, and begin rolling the bow in my hands, turning it under great tension, till it is filled in as far as I want to go, MINUS ABOUT THREE WRAPS  .   Those three wraps are done with half-hitches, the end clipped 1/4" long or so, melted with a lighter and finger-tapped down, so it never will un-tie. 

Done this way, there is no danger of it ever getting loose.  Further, it is easy to stay accurate and is easier on the hands than handling cord, and pulling it tight with the fingers. 

piper

[huntinoly]

Gordon, what size dowel and what type of glue. Thanks for all the help guys. Greg