head em up ride em in move em out

[bucksbuoy]

Rawhide!!! ha ha sory had to be done. Im in the process of backing a bow with  rawhide and had a few questions. Im using a dog bone (I know I know Im gonna sand it down real fine) and its been soaking for a few hours and although its pliable its still holding its shape. Will more soaking completely flatten it out? I was thinking i might press it between two boards with some weight if needed. Also, I was planning on using hide glue but would some titebond be better? How dry does it have to be before its glued? Can anyone recommend a drying method? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
Jason

[George Tsoukalas]

Rollon' rollin' Keep them pictures  rollin'. Rawhide!
I wish I could help with dog chews. I've used rawhide but purchased it from 3 Rivers. Good stuff. Soak it and glue it.
I''l take a shot. Soak it for as long as it takes to make pliable. Open it up and pull it out. Press it  between weighted boards like you said. Let it dry. Sand it uniform. Soak it again. Cut it into strips and glue it on. I'm getting tired thinking about it. Jawge

[Pappy]

Never used dog chews either but George sounds about like what I would do. I use TB3 on all of mine and let them dry for 24 hours in a dry place and then trim them up.Maybe then another day or 2 before I shoot it,especially if it is on white wood.
   Pappy

[George Tsoukalas]

I used TB2 but now I would use TB3 too, Pap. LOL. There was not TB3 then. I'm old. Goin' huntin'. Let us know. Jawge

[bucksbuoy]

Here it is. Ive since modified the nocks and now for rawhide.

[bucksbuoy]

First pic post. Took a couple trys and I still gotta double anyway its yellow birch 48" long about 60# at 24".  About 1 1/2" all the way through till the last inch or so. It was difficult to tiller this because the stave had so much personality. An attempt at an algonquin style bow. Not one power tool has touched this. Shot it a couple dozen times and a splinter developed in the back probably from me pulling to far. Hence the rawhide. Never the less it shoots great and really fast. My first bow. Just wanted it to work. Dont care if its pretty. Heres a new nock pic. You can see some of my critters in the background.

[bucksbuoy]

Ok an update on the dog bone rawhide. The pressing seemed to help flatten it out but of course its not gonna dry like that so I remembered you could just staple gun it to a board so thats what I did. I streched it real good as I stapled and its looking pretty good. Im really surprised how much I got from a 12" dog bone. There was a main section 36 inches long by 6 inches wide and a few smaller scrap sections inside the roll. It only cost me 6 bucks so its a pretty good deal but the thickness is pretty variable so what I saved in dollars Ill spend in effort. Hope to have this bow done and done in a couple days so Ill have to post more pics. So be on the look out.
thanks for all the advice. this is a great site with alot of great people. Maybe Ill even subscribe to this magazine.
Jason

[George Tsoukalas]

I'm glad you are backing that. Even with a backing you are pushing limits. Yaaaaaaaaaaaa! Jawge

[bucksbuoy]

yeah, Im definitely pushing it. this being my first bow is purely experimental and Im just feeling it out. my next bow will be a maple board bow 7 feet long for my friend with a 32" draw. got the idea from one of your posts I think jawge.

[NTD]

Jungle Carpet Python and either a juvenile chondro or a Amazon tree bow    You have classy taste in snakes   Do you breed them?

[bucksbuoy]

Yeah its a jungle and a chondro. They're still too young to breed but hopefully in the future. Outside of archery snakes are another passion of mine. Thanks for the compliment 

[NTD]

I'm a herp nutmyself.  I have 3 Jungle females that I'm hoping to get eggs from this year.  If so it'll be the 5th straight year I've bred them.  Sorry to hijack this thread, just couldn't help but comment.  JCP's are one of my favorites!

[bucksbuoy]

Good lucks with your snakes NTD. Gotta love Morelia. I honestly cant pick a favorite species. Im a member of this forum and a reptile forum and I gotta say the people are alot nicer on this site for sure. Should have some finished pics of the bow up in a couple days!!!

[NTD]

PA folks are the best around that's for sure!  Look forward to seeing the pics!