Rawhide backing inside takedown sleeve on yew bow?

[Tommy D]

I was just about to do the final tillering on a yew bow that I had finished. It is on a take down sleeve. I had shot the bow fifty times or so and when I was checking the bend in the mirror the bottom limb snapped right off where it entered the take down sleeve (1 1/4 diameter).

I think that there is enough limb to still make it into a bow if I have the lower limb 1.5 inches shorter then the top. I think that I will loose about 2 to 3 inches on the lower limb and will have to shorten top slightly. Bow was 68 ntn and symmetrical width 1.5 inches at the fades 70 lbs at 27 inches. I had put in about 1 .5 inches reflex when I set the limb in the sleeve.

1) Would anyone recommend gluing rawhide backing on before re-gluing the limb into the take down sleeve so the backing is incorporated. This may allow me to save about an inch on the bottom limb where the sap wood lifted off as it broke.

2) Should I glue raw hide the whole length before tillering further?

Thanks

[Dano]

Did you violate the sapwood when fitting the  td sleeve?

[Tommy D]

Pretty sure I didnt violate the sap wood - I was careful not too. As I said I put reflex in the bow when I glued the billet in the sleeve and filled with m13 epoxy so it was not a tight fit. The fades were not very obvious as the bow limb is quite thick. This may have been a problem. I just thought that raw hide inside the sleeve would add protection?

[Dano]

I don't think rawhide through the sleeve will help that much. Did you have a tight fit with the sleeve and limb before adding the epoxy? The epoxy is only a filler in this case, the real strength is in the mating of the limb to the sleeve.

[Tommy D]

The fit was not very tight because I put backset in the bow by the way I fitted the billet in the sleeve. I read on the Jay St Charles website you should not do this but have been told by others it is fine. Maybe that was the problem. Now thinking of fitting it snug and then heat treating the limbs to take out the set.