sinew backed dogwood finishing ?'s

[tsa yo ga]

hidee,
At Pat's camporama, I had a short dogwood "bow" that I brought w/ me.  I had already shot it at 18" draw length and it took  a good bit of set.  I showed it around and the general consensus was put some sinew on it.  I did that three weeks ago, and really enjoyed the process, especially the hide glue and it's aroma.  The woman of the house did not!

I have many questions, so here goes.  I lapped the sinew over the ends of the bow, can i trim it off at the end above the nocks or should I trim it below the nocks?  I tried to let the sinew extend down the sides aways, but it is not uniform at all.  Should I sand and scrape it off?  I plan to wrap the ends with sinew as well as in several spots up both limbs.  Also, do I finish the back of the bow before finishing the tiller?  I plan on painting or dyeing the entire bow red, any suggestions as to what to use?

This will be my first shooter if I can pull off the elusive tillering.  Thank you Mole and Knight D for the sinew, I had plenty and some left over!

[Pat B]

I have only done a few  sinew backed bow and left the tips free of sinew and put a sinew wrap at that point to prevent it from lifting.
  Once the sinew is cured you can sand it just like with wood to get it smooth if that's what you want. You shouldn't need to add a finish to the sinew until you finish the rest of the bow.
  I was impressed by your bows you brought to the camp-o-rama and look forward to seeing this one completed.   Pat

[artcher1]

Dogwood does take a bit more set than other woods it seems. My most shot bow ever is a dogwood that I later sinewed. Recurved and with 3" of set I could hit most any thing I wanted to at the time. I sinewed the bow and it now holds an 1 1/2" backset. I used the Tite-bond glue instead of hide glue and on the right day it's probably the fastest bow I have. But can't it a bull in the butt with it now. 

Anyways, I would do as Pat suggested, hold the sinew back from the tips and add a wrap to secure 'em. Any sinew over the edge is just dead weight. I wouldn't think you would need to add wraps on up the limbs. Just remember, sinew and glue is heavy, so lighten the tips of sinew and  the sides of the limbs and concentrate the most sinew dead down the crown of each limb.  Scrap, sand of file the sinew until you have it to your liking. It might look a little rough at that point but an additional coating of glue will straighten that right up. Let us know how it turns out.

ART B

[tsa yo ga]

Thank you patB and artcher1 for your replies.  I have the bow drawing to 20", the bow itself is 42" long.  It is still a bit too heavy for my tastes, should I take off more wood to lighten it or scrape off some of the sinew.  I have shot some with it and a not to happy with it.  The handle is 1.5" wide, must be to hard for the arrow to get straight.  I guess I could narrow the handle, which would also lighten the draw weight.  That said, I have built my first shooter and that's one goal realized.  Again thanks for the input.

[wodpow]

 :oIs the bow from a stave or  a limb? The ones I have built were all limb bows with high crowned backs that were covered with doe raw hide. the wood will take set like no other wood I have used.  But it will still hit where i look and has the power to kill anything that walks in front of it that I want to eat. Most I have made have the handle just cut in from the arrow rest side.  Nothing under 62" 55#@28"

[wodpow]

  when I sinew a bow I just apply up to the string knocks and apply a wrap with every layer  just under  the knocks  beings if it tries to lift that would be the place I also put wraps at the fades to hold the ends of the sinew solid to the bow while it dries and pulls.

[Hillbilly]

I remember that bow, Jay-post up some pics when you get it done. You can probably get it to shooting better by using weaker spined arrows or leving them longer, which reduces the effective spine of the arrow. I'd do like Pat said with the sinew, end it below the knocks and put a wrap on it there. For the red part, Fiebing's leather dye or Rit dye works really good. If you use Rit, mix it with alchohol instead of water. Acrylic craft paint works good, too.