Who thinks this is possible???

[Ifrit617]

Hey everyone,

I have a short maple billet but I only have one. It is 35" long. I was thinking about making a short sinew-backed bendy handle bow that pulled about 40-45# at 18-19"... Has anybody had any luck backing maple with sinew or does anyone think that this is even possible?

I will have to correct some twist is the billet but other that that it is Flawless.  Any thoughts would be great.

Jon

[makenzie71]

I think 35" is pretty short for a 19" draw, even with the sinew on the back.  The poundage should be a problem, but I think your target draw length would be.  I wouldn't feel comfortable pulling such a short bow further than 16~17".

[Ifrit617]

I agree that 19" would probably be pushing it. I was hoping more for 18"... This will just be a fun poject and I am hoping that I could get 18"....

[bubby]

how thick is the billet, maybe split it, splice at the handle and back it if ya need a litte more #, JM2$w, Bub

[Ifrit617]

Thats a good idea Bub, but the billet is already roughed out so that it is 1 1/2 inches wide the whole length.... I am not worried about poundage, but am more curious how sinew would work with maple and if I could get a 18" draw from it. Thanks for chiming in.

[gstoneberg]

I'm not sure I agree that 19" is not possible on a 35" sinew backed bendy handle bow.  You'd have to tiller well, but the sinew is going to help keep the bow from failing on the back.

Another thing you could try is splicing on limb tips similar to how siyahs are glued on to a horn bow.  If you sinew over the splice joint and then wrap it I think it'd work fine.  I would add  recurve at the same time to help with string angle.  You should be able to add a foot of length to the bow doing that at least.  That would get your potential draw lengths up into the low 20s.

George

[makenzie71]

I'm not sure I agree that 19" is not possible on a 35" sinew backed bendy handle bow.  You'd have to tiller well, but the sinew is going to help keep the bow from failing on the back.

Another thing you could try is splicing on limb tips similar to how siyahs are glued on to a horn bow.  If you sinew over the splice joint and then wrap it I think it'd work fine.  I would add  recurve at the same time to help with string angle.  You should be able to add a foot of length to the bow doing that at least.  That would get your potential draw lengths up into the low 20s.

George

I like the sayah idea...that would work and I know that maple works really well under that kind of stress.  Hell, thin it out a little bit more, find you some horn or bamboo for the belly, and make something really interesting.

Normally I'm all for experimentation, but sinew is a pricey commodity to someone like me.  If you really just want to see how it'll work I wouldn't waste the sinew.  I would go get some raw hide chewies and lay it down with some hide glue.

[Ifrit617]

The siyah idea is a good one but I think I'll stick to making a west coast style bow... I think I will splurge on some sinew and see how it works and push it to get 18-19" of draw....

Does anyone know how many deer leg sinew It would take to do two or three layers of backing on a 35" bow?

[Stingray45]

Hey Ifrit,

How thick is the billet? I know you said you roughed it out 1.5" wide the whole way down but if you're billet is say 1.5" wide x 35" long and 1" to 1.5" deep you could split it down the length and probably have enough to do a handle splice. I've heard of guys splitting a thick stave this way to get more bows out of it. Actually I think Pappy had a pretty nice snakey osage on here before from something he did with that, but I could be wrong about that. See how thick the bow is and how many rings per inch you got, see if you have a way to split it between two rings where you end up with two billets at least 1/2" thick. That should be thick enough to get you in the 40#-45# range at 28". Most of my bows my starting dimensions are to taper from 5/8" at the fades and I start moving wood from there. Just an idea though.

~Barry

[Ifrit617]

I was thinking about that scott.

Just to clarify.... I am kinda set on making a Really short bow... Just For fun, and for fooling around with... Also the "stave/billet" is about 35"x 1.5"x3/4"...I was going to finish rough shaping tomorrow and maybe floor tiller it, and then get some sinew....

Any more advice would be great...

Jon

[bubby]

that was how I thought stingray, but I say if ifrit is set on a shorty, I say go for it, that's how ya learn new stuff, and i think 19" is possible, get some sinew and post some pics , Bub

[Silent Bear]

Never have used maple but if its fairly strong wood you should easily reach 19 if tillered correctly 22 inches at that poundage will work

[gutpile]

I just finished a 52 inch sinew backed osage bow with flipped tips that does not bend in handle..handle is 3 inches long with 1 1/2 fade tips flipped at 3 inches..which give only 20 inches of limb bend on each limb..so it has 40 inches of working limb..bow draws 27 but would feel it could draw more.....no set...44@27 so I would think you could do it no problem as long as you sinew it...gut

[MWirwicki]

I've done it with a horn belly and a sinew back, only with osage.  36" long, 40lbs at 23 inches.  I think you might be pushing it without horn if you're looking for 40 lbs.  How about making a kids bow out of it?  I'm certain there's a kid out there who would love a bow and love you for it!