50" ERC (no pics)

[Pat B]

I have started a 50" ERC bow that will be sinew backed. I am leaving some sapwood on the back and I would like to kick the tips up a bit. I noticed that Marc said he used heat to take a sideways bend our of his (Marlon's) new war bow. My question is...what is the best way to kick the tips in an ERC bow, dry heat?  Any suggestions on limb shape? This bow will bend through the handle.    Pat

[sonny]

Pat, I'd suggest that you remove all of the sapwood as I've heard that sinew will pull the sapwood from the heartwood as it dries. matter of fact that happened to Manni Ebner- I sent him a couple of ERC billets that he sinew backed, only to have the sapwood pull free.
Ever since I've been wary of trying it.

heck, I have a bad enough time with sinew pulling the heartwood apart  ,,especially belly cracks which won't hurt performance but sure do look bad..

[Pat B]

If that is the case then perhaps I won't add a sinew backing on this bow. I'll use a piece of osage for a short sinew backed bow.
  I will add rawhide backing and maybe add recurves(sayah) to this one.  Any suggestions on how to add sayahs?    Pat

[Pappy]

I am anxious to see how this works,I have been wanting to make a ERC but I had such
bad luck with it 15 or so years ago when I first started I have been afraid of it. Almost  made me give up.
   Pappy

[Pat B]

Pappy, I made an ERC ELB style bow a few years back that blew...and I mean blew . I send the sister stave to James(Physh) in J-ville, he built an ELB style that blew in the same spot. Later I sent him my half and he was gonna put them together and try again but I guess he was too gun shy.
  This is a good clean piece but I would like to kick the tips a bit. I'm just not sure what method to use though.    Pat   
   

[DBernier]

Pat, Amy and I are thinking of comming over Sunday to pick up my stuff. You gonna be home? Sorry for the intrusion on the ERC---what ever that is.   

Dick

[Pat B]

Dick, As far as I know, we will be home. Pat

[DBernier]

We will give you a call.

Dick

[MattE]

I don't like the sap wood left on an erc bow it isn't much good for bow wood and causes your bow to have to be bulky to be any good.My best erc bow to date had no sap wood at all and was backed with raw hide.I had rather back this wood regardless of the poundage I am going for. erc likes to be long and is still tricky. For a 50 " bow, bending in the handle will help. Backing will help as well but neither of these procedures is any guarantee.I can't speak for other soft woods but this one has terribly erratic grain and will test a bowyers skills. It still is one of my favorite woos to work with. I must be a glutton for punishment.

[Tom B]

I am waiting to see ALL the answers. Pat, I normally come to you for guidance. Would love to use some erc I have tucked away,but other than forcing into reflex...no clues.BIG THANKS TO ALL THE POSTERS FROM ALL THE READERS. Tom

[Pat B]

Matt, This stave is already 50" long and cut to shape. It is about 1/2 sap wood already because I thinned the belly. I was planning to sinew back it but if the sinew will pull the sapwood off then that is out.  I'm gonna go ahead with my plans and see what happens. I have another ERC stave that I will make a real bow from later.   Pat

[welch2]

You could sinew wrap the bow every few inches ,if you are worried about it pulling apart. Or you could sinew cable back it.

Ralph

[mullet]

  Matt,When I was at Pat's camporame,There was two gentleman shooting almost all sapwood cedar bows.They were amazingly fast and real good shooters.They had no backing.I was of the same opinion about the sapwood as you till a saw and shot those bows.

[jamie]

pat the short stone job im working on has pulled about 4" of reflex after 2 weeks of air drying. i whip tillered the ends before sinewing and let the sinew do the bending for me. i need to post pics of it on the build along but im waiting to see if my cousin can clean up the pics some cause they came out horrible. i was planning on wrapping the bow with sinew to be safe if it made it throught the tillering process. peace.

[MattE]

I didn't say, in my previous statement that you couldn't use the sap wood.You can but more mass is needed to get where you want to go poundage wise. I had rather have a thinner bow for the poundage I choose.You still can't get a bow as narrow and thin as you can with a hard wood like Ipe no matter what you do it just won't happen.I also know from experience that you need some sap wood on a lot of staves. There can be some deep dive in the grain of erc making it impossible to get a bow any other way.I have been fortunate to get some of the best erc wood you can find in my county and some and some of the worst.I have worked with both. erc can become a fine bow if close attention and care is taken during the building process.