sinew and yellow glue

[billy bowmaker]

i recently watched a video on youtube which was an interview with bowyer ed scott.  he uses yellow glue for sinew and says it works normally without the fuss of hide glue.  Anybody else try this?  it would be a simpler alternative.  Does the sinew shrink and pull reflex the same way? Curious.  thanks.

[JackCrafty]

Yep, it works.  Waterproof too, if you buy the right type of yellow glue.  This might be a drawback if you hope to remove the sinew for some reason down the line.

The hide glue is what really shrinks a lot and causes most of the reflex.  The sinew will shrink a little by itself.

[bubby]

so what is the right type of yellow glue?

[JackCrafty]

 

[bubby]

Patrick will tb2 work as well?

[Del the cat]

I had a go with titebondIII, it seemed expensive, wasteful, time consuming and didn't seem to soak well into the fibres.
Mind that could be my technique and I only tried it once.
When I have another go I shall definitely use hide glue, you can thin it to the desired consitency, it's inherently compatible with the sinew, it doesn't set too quick, it can be re-worked/softened, it's cheap. To me it's a no contest. BUT I haven't actually done it yet , but I have used hide glue for other things.
Del

[PatM]

You can see the bottle of TB 2 in the video.
 I would never use anything but hideglue. I never had any trouble working with it.

[HatchA]

I had a go with titebondIII, it seemed expensive, wasteful, time consuming and didn't seem to soak well into the fibres.

You gotta remember that the likes of Titebond glue is all imported to the UK and Ireland so it's gonna have a serious mark-up attached to the price before it even sees the shop shelf.  Couple that with the size of bottle and, if you're using it as lavishly as a lot of guys do, then it's gonna end up being quite an expensive "inexpensive bowmaking material", if you get what I mean?

By way of a f'rinstance...  how many people here size up a bow with TB when gluing on skins (as an aesthetic addition - not like rawhide)?

How many people here just use Elmer's wood glue (which I'm pretty sure is just a PVA based glue?  So I'm hoping the PVA glue we can get here in craft shops will be just as effective?  (cos I've a gallon of the stuff in the other room )

[PEARL DRUMS]

I used TBIII on my last sinew job and it worked great, it does dr fast so you cant mess around much.

[JackCrafty]

Yes, TBII will work as well but it is only water-resistant not water-proof.

There are two things I don't like about using TB glue with sinew.  One, if the sinew is wet, the glue will weaken when it mixes with the water in the sinew so you'll have to use slightly damp or dry sinew.  Two, there isn't much time to lay down the sinew before the glue starts to dry.  Once it starts to "clump", the glue must be allowed to dry for about 30 minutes before you can add another layer on top.  You've got to work very fast.  It's designed for production work.  You can't just add water to extend the drying time like you can with hide glue.

I've used wood glue and sinew for hafting and it works well.  I have not used it for backing a bow.  I prefer to use poly-cotton thread with wood glue when backing a bow.  The thread is easier to work with and can be any length I want.

Hide glue will set up or "gel" quicker than wood glue unless you are working somewhere that is 95 degrees or higher.  I prefer fish glue over hide glue.  Hide glue drives me nuts, but that's just me. 

[JW_Halverson]

Using a PVA glue is like adding Nitrous Oxide to a hot rod and injecting it into the exhaust manifold.  Yeah, it's easier that way, but what a waste of time and material. 

The yellow glue will not allow the sinew to "load" properly like hide glue does.  The sinew and PVA will "bombproof" the back of a bow, but will not really add much in performance like properly installed sinew backing can.  If you are just looking to hold down the back of the bow, use goat or antelope rawhide instead, much less work to install than sinew. 

[billy bowmaker]

i find goat rawhide is unreliable:  i've had a couple bow blow through the back with it. 

[JW_Halverson]

WOW!  You've had goat rawhide fail?  Goat is one of the best choices for some styles of drumheads just because of it's incredible strength.  Sending you a p.m. about some antelope rawhide.

[JackCrafty]

The yellow glue will not allow the sinew to "load" properly like hide glue does.  The sinew and PVA will "bombproof" the back of a bow, but will not really add much in performance like properly installed sinew backing can.

I've heard this argument before but haven't seen actual test results to prove it.  Where does this come from?

[medicinewheel]

i find goat rawhide is unreliable:  i've had a couple bow blow through the back with it. 

Hard to believe; goat parchment is used for drumheads, deer not.

PS: just sawJW saying that, too.