Part of the club

[soy]

The broken bow club that is... I don't want to go into details on what a thorn in my side this thing Has been  this is my first bomb , it probably won't be my last throw little duck tape on her and away we go it was hhb with 2 layers ofsinew ... to dry?
 
 

[killir duck]

how long was it? weight? limb width?

[soy]

It was 68 inches ntn mid 50's at 28 inches, and just shy of 1.75 inches at the fades tapering do 7 sixteenths at the tips

[blackhawk]

Welcome to the club...don't know why it happened, but I feel ya. I've had a sinewed hhb blow on me as well, n it was in front of some fellow bowyers 

It happens, but ya just learn n figure out why and move on. Sometimes there's nothing you could've done to prevent it, cus some pieces of wood just don't wanna be a bow. Good thing woods a renewable / replaceable material that grows on trees

[lostarrow]

Was it completely tillered and shot in or a work in process? Heat treated ? Violated back?...............................Standing deadwood?  HHB can take alot of abuse.With a sinew back I would think near bulletproof. I've only backed with linen cloth myself ,but the little one I made for my son nearly turns itself inside out.See if you can figure it out  and learn from it. Some of the ones I broke seemed like a mystery until sometimes weeks later when the lightbulb went off.

[soy]

Okay I guess I will get to the thorn  in my side... this is my last cured piece of Ironwood I had made it a serviceable bow but due to a not by the fade it had a bit of a beauty hump and it made that lamb a little bit to the deflex well the other held reflex... doing the heating in bending I got a little heavy handed and cracked the belly I was able to get under the damage but left the bow a bet light in poundage so on goes the sinew, I only got 1 layer on as I grossly missed judged the amount needed I put 2.5 more layers on, tillerd it and the shot the snot out of it... as I was going to back it with a snake skin I noticed the first layer in the rest of the layers were not bonding well together for whatever reason... so I removed all of the sinew and glue(and turnd it into glue) resized it, re backed it with some reflex added ... had it in the dry box took it out waited 3 days I exercised it, made a few scrapes on a stiff part, shot it about 20 times, was checking the weight and BAM! I was supposed to have this 1 done in April I was a bit overdue Now back to the old drawing board

[Holten101]

Okay I guess I will get to the thorn  in my side... this is my last cured piece of Ironwood I had made it a serviceable bow but due to a not by the fade it had a bit of a beauty hump and it made that lamb a little bit to the deflex well the other held reflex... doing the heating in bending I got a little heavy handed and cracked the belly I was able to get under the damage but left the bow a bet light in poundage so on goes the sinew, I only got 1 layer on as I grossly missed judged the amount needed I put 2.5 more layers on, tillerd it and the shot the snot out of it... as I was going to back it with a snake skin I noticed the first layer in the rest of the layers were notticking bonding well together for whatever reason... so I removed all of the sinew and glue(and turnd it into glue) resized it, re backed it with some reflex added ... had it in the dry box took it out waited 3 days I exercised it, made a few scrapes on a stiff part, shot it about 20 times, was checking the weight and BAM! I was supposed to have this 1 done in April I was a bit overdue Now back to the old Ron bored

Man you go far to save a bow;-).

Its a bummer man....I cant imagine how a sinew backed hhb could end up like that. Wood is wood however, its alive and has temperament....sometimes its cooperative, sometimes it needs to be "broken in" and sometimes its so damn stubborn that it will rather break than cooperate.

Cheers

[Pappy]

To bad but like has been said it happens,had more than I can count over the
years. HHB is usually bullet proof and with sinew just don't know. I would cut a little piece out of one of the limbs and do a bend test.I do that a lot on a questionable piece of wood.I have had HHB and Hickory both do that and the backs were dried out, dry rot I guess, done a bend test on a small piece and it would explode so I cut up what I had left and cooked with it. Sometimes just bad wood that you can't see.I hate them kind of blow ups the worst,bad enough if I know what caused it ,hate it when I don't. 
   Pappy

[Del the cat]

You obviously haven't read that bit in the book where it says a sinew backing makes a bow virtually indestructible .
I feel your pain, I made a little sinew backed Ash bow ages ago using TBII it went just like yours... I haven't plucked up the enthuisiasm to try agin yet .
But one day...
Del

[George Tsoukalas]

It happens. I'm not one to heat and contort a stave to remove every little bit of character but I can understand the need to do that but with that comes consequences. The key is to learn something from every mishap.  Like I say, "If you ain't breakin' you ain't makin'!"Jawge

[sharpend60]

Bummer!

I, like you , keep building and building and trying to fix until the end!

I'll probably be the only to say, good work, nice fight.
But it's not over yet!

Take the unbroken limb, put it in the corner. Next time a bow pops or otherwise offends, save that good limb too.
Splice em together.
Could be real interesting or another exercise in futility.

[lostarrow]

After hearing the rest of the story , my guess would be that it was doomed before the backing went on. When you heated and cracked the belly (I'm guessing reflexing) ,that crack had already started through the grain towards the back.Backing may save a back but doesn't help a comprimised belly. When you bend a bow . all of the fibres on the back are pulling away from each other ,while the cells on the belly are crowding each other like too many people trying to get on a train. As it compressed , the two  pieces on either side of the fault line slid past each other on the belly side and started the whole process not unlike an earthquake. The combination of hardening the belly with the heat,small fissure started on the belly and the extra strain that the sinew placed on the belly sounds like the overall cause of your bow's demise. The belly is as important to the bow as the back and can't be minimalised.A damaged back is easier to deal with IMHO.Sorry about your loss.

[dmenzies1950]

Like the boys are saying, "it happens to the best of them", even with sinew backing there's no garrantee she won't blow apart even if you've done everything right. I once built a little mountain maple bow, sinewed the back and took it with me on my walks through the woods every day shooting stumps as I walked. One day I pulled back to shoot a grouse and it blew apart in a million pieces, I don't know why, it just happened. Just suck it up and keep turning em out. You'll have more success than failures!   Dale

[Parnell]

I feel your pain, had a sinew backed osage blow on me for no good reason a few weeks ago.

[soy]

Lostarrow... That could very well be the case as the failure was about 3 inches tward the tip from the belly crack , my other thought I would be the same time only had 3 days out of the drybox with low humidity That it may not have Absorbd enough moisture...