Delamination

[Justin Snyder]

I would be willing to bet that the issue originated in the glue line.  It may have been clamped to tight and caused a dry joint, but it is nearly impossible to know what caused it without delaminating the whole thing. The wood that splintered off is probably just a tiny splinter at the edge where the wood was weaker than the glue because of the sharp edge.

I would be interested to hear how Marc would fix it also, I would say it is worth a try.

[adb]

NTD... did you make the bow yourself, or did you buy a glue-up and tiller it, or did you buy it already made?

[Marc St Louis]

You didn't say what type of glue you used.  If it's TB then you don't want to use a crazy glue to try and repair it,  the two don't get along very well.  I find crazy glue to be a bit too brittle anyway.  

In any case this is what I would do, and this has worked for me in the past.  Get a slow setting, good quality epoxy that is not bothered by oily woods.  Mix up a small quantity and pry the backing apart like you are doing in the picture.  Heat the backing up till it's hot, not too hot that you can't keep your hand on it though.  Then apply the epoxy to the crack, the heat will turn it to the consistency of water and you'll see it run into the crack.  Apply as much as needed till it won't absorb any more.  Then use a padded clamp and clamp the split down and release it, you'll see air bubbles come out as you clamp it.  This is to make sure there's no voids inside.  After you've done that a few times apply a bit more glue, just to make sure, and clamp it down and let the glue set.

[mullet]

 Nate, I have repaired some like that and glass bows to by soaking thin Loc-Tite super glue down into the seperation and clamping it. Let it sit at least over night.

[NTD]

adb, I made this bow start to finish myself.

Marc, I did use TB3.  Thanks for the advice, I may try that.  Would G2 epoxy work?

Eddie, When you used CA did you notice a problem with the TB like Marc mentioned?

[mullet]

 Nate, I haven't tried it with Titebond for the same reasons Marc said. I've done it with epoxy's and Smooth on.

[Marc St Louis]

Nate
G2 is actually the glue that I use

[NTD]

Thanks Marc,
That's why I asked about it.  I've seen you mention it in your bow building articles.  I just looked it up and it does not appear available in the U.S. though....

[aznboi3644]

its a good bond when the wood breaks and not the glue line...that used to happen to me sometimes back in my subwoofer enclosure design and build days.

[denny]

I used to build with tbb 3 also, but had too many come apart like that... ! I agree with Marc, the glue had a bad adhesive result. Every wood is different and glues react different accordingly. I have had that happen when i scored the wood to be glued up. The score lines next to the edges allowed this to happen. I also used acetone to clean oily woods. I would do exactly as Marc has suggested as I have done the same and saved bows.The next time, try Urac 185 and heat the bow in a tube with a a hairdryer or heat gun, I use a heat box. I would also use shrink wrap and DOUBLE wrap, and heat for 1 hour. you should have no glue lines and very hard clean finish.I do occassional use Smooth On ,not as much anymore..Good luck save it and shoot it.Denny

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[NTD]

Thanks Denny, I use Urac 185 currently.