Broken Sinew ERC w/pics. (This one REALLY bummed me out.)

[broad_head]

I would have thought that if it was due to the wood being to dry it would be the limbs that went first as they will dry at a quicker rate?
When things like this happen to me I am always consoled if I can pinpoint a cause but this break seems very odd!
                                                                                                                   Peter (UK)

[Parnell]

Nuts!  Sorry to see it.

[Jesse]

    Time will heal    It was a beauty though .

[John K]

Was this bow all heart wood ? Or did you peal the bark and use the first growth ring ? Sorry about the loss !

[Dane]

Rick, I am so sorry too. All that time and effort. I too dont have a lot of time, so I choose my projects very carefully.

No doubt you will have better luck next time, if that is any consolation.

Dane

[brownhillboy]

Sorry Rick.  I know the feeling.  

[DanaM]

rick if its any consolation you have a nice supply of hearth boards for fire drills
I have a nice ERC stave but haven't gotten to it, I will most likely also have some hearth boards

[sonny]

my concern is in the color of that wood. the lighter sapwood colored streaks are pretty but doesn't make for good bow wood.
on the other hand, when you get a piece that's all reddish-pink heartwood it'll make a good bow, especially with plenty of sinew on it.

 

[aero86]

excuse my newness but ERC seems to be some kind of cedar?

[mullet]

  I'll have to go along with the "too, dry", group. There have been some nice unbacked bows built on this site in the past. Does anybody remember the guy that was an Illustrator from Goodletsville, Tenn that used to make all the ERC war bows here a few years back? He made some heavy weight unbacked bows with no problems.

[El Destructo]

excuse my newness but ERC seems to be some kind of cedar?

Eastern Red Cedar....yes

[ricktrojanowski]

Thanks for consoling me on my loss.
Josh-  After I cursed a whole bunch, I thought this could be the making of the ultimate Frankenbow for you.

Badger- The handle was 1 1/4" wide and about the same in thickness.  The limbs were 1 7/8" wide for 2/3 of the length tapering to 3/4"

El D- Good idea about salvaging the sinew.  It's prime UP backstrap .  Should I just put the limbs in a tub until it will peel then clean off all the glue?

John K- It was all heartwood one ring.  It had a really thick sapwood layer and I didn't want an all sapwood bow but I couldn't follow a sapwood ring and didn't feel comfortable violating rings even though I was going to back it.  So I managed to chase a heartwood ring and get it for the whole stave.  That didn't take long .

Dana-  Great suggestion for hearth boards  .  ERC is my favorite.

Thanks again for the advice it is all appreciated.  On to the next one.

Sonny.  I was a little concerned about all the light colored wood in the stave.  It was pretty spongy, I guess I should have listened to my gut.

[mullet]

Rick, the sapwood also makes a sweet fast shooting bow.

[ricktrojanowski]

Rick, the sapwood also makes a sweet fast shooting bow.

Eddie
Good to know, I have another stave that I'm going to try at some point.  It's got a thick sapwood layer also.  I'll just go for the back under the bark.  I can't let the Cedar beat me.

[mullet]

 Rick, The first time I went to PatB's Camp O'rama, there was a gentleman that had an ERC bow that was Blistering fast. It was a big sapling and was almost all Sapwood. It just had a few streaks of red in the belly. For what it's worth, All my cedar and yew is in the shop(weather) when it's in stave form. When I have any other wood semi finished bow, I bring it in the house. My AC runs just about 24/7