Ive got some questions

[kylerprochaska]

Well Im wantiing to start a new project...Its going to be a 60" Tip to tip Osage recurve, sinew backed and im thinking about putting a bamboo belly on it....The only questions I have are what is the best way to recurve osage without the wood splintering?  (I have a big turkey fryer that I could boil the tips in, will that work?) and then another question is te process of sinew backing a bow...I don't personally know anyone who could show me how and I can't seem to find any videos or instructionals on the internert.....Oh and im going to be shooting for 60lbs @ 28"....

Thanks for the answers...Ky

[RyanY]

Well as for recurving if you use a strip of flexible metal to put over the osage while you recurve it, that should keep the splinters to a minimum. On your other questions, depending on the piece of osage you have I wouldn't even worry about the bamboo belly or sinew. Simple and clean.

[Pat B]

I use dry heat(with oil) and a metal support band on the outside of the recurve when I recurve osage. Leave the limb tips a bit thick plus chase the belly side to one ring as well as the back.
  Osage is plenty strong enough in compression without adding the boo belly. By adding it you are complicating the process when it isn't necessary.

[kylerprochaska]

Ok, so you both have talked me out of the boo belly....but I would still like to put some sinew on it....I saw that some bows have it just up and down the back, and some have it wrapped around the bow....whats the best ?

Ky

[El Destructo]

I think you need to simplify this Bow....Recurved ...Bamboo Bellied....and Sinew Backed...........I would not bother myself.....and I have built a few Bows...How about a nice Recurved Osage Single Ringed Selfbow...with Tip Overlays? .... because the Bamboo Belly is totally unnecessary....and the Sinew is better kept for a shorter Bow than a 60 incher......JMO

Oh....and yes....what Pat said......

[adb]

A boo belly on a sinew backed osage? Never heard of that. Seems completely unnecessary. Nothing wrong with a short sinew backed osage recurve however. I recurve most of my tips with dry heat, but some (like yew) I use steam or boiling.

[Hillbilly]

Jim Hamm's Bows and Arrows of the Native Americans or his chapter on sinew in vol 1 of the Traditional Bowyer's Bible are probably the best written instructions for putting down sinew that I've seen. If you do a search on this site, I bet there's a good sinew build-along somewhere in the archives.

[JustAim]

Do what Pat and the others told you. l dont see the need to sinew back a 60'' bow and a boo belly is just more work than you need to do. l dont use a metal strap or anything....l just boil the heck outta the wood, then clamp the tip first and wrap the limb slowly around the form. l also make sure the belly and back is chased to one grown ring and sand the belly side to help prevent splinters rising when l'm bending the limb, seal the wood with poly before you boil. l'm working on another recurve and just done one limb so far with no splintering whatsoever...so far so good l'll show you a pic so you can get an idea. Just go slow and you'll be fine.

 

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[sailordad]

that is one radical curve dude
realy cant wait to see a matched pair of them

[kylerprochaska]

Hey thanks a lot guys, you've all given me some good ideas on what to do...(and talked me out of some stuff i don't need)  Thats a great form JustAim....I need to make one or figure something out...I think I have enough scrap layin around the garage to make one though...thanks again guys...I can't wait to show you the end result of all this if it turns out

ky

[medicinewheel]

WOW.......! That is a BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD recurve!

[kylerprochaska]

Ok so as far as making a form goes... how much recurve would be a safe amount...right now I drew out a form design with about 7 inches of recurve from where the tip of the bow would be to where the back would sit even with the form...is that too much?  Just thought I would ask before I start cutting or ruin a good stave

ky

[JustAim]

7 inches sounds good to me. That pic of my form has about a 8 inch curve to it but my other form has maybe 6 inches of curve. lt all depends on the angle of the curve if your looking for speed and how much wood you devote for the curve, the TBB vol.2 has great info on recurves so you might wanna check into that if you havent already. All the recurves l've done are working recurves, sometime this year l'll try my luck with a static recurve....and l'll be using a metal strap for those kind of bends

[Del the cat]

l'm working on another recurve and just done one limb so far with no splintering whatsoever...so far so good  

Hey that's some heck of a recurve...nice jig, great post.
I've done some very mild recurve, made a nice steamer, a wallpaper stripping steamer feeding into a box made out of insulation panel which I had left over from a roofing job (Expanded polyurathane skinned with aluminium) works a treat.

You can see it's just a quick slap it together job, held together with some tape! Note the importance of a tidy workshop 
Del