Is sinew worth the effort?

[ionicmuffin]

you wont get nearly as much reflex out of it

[osage outlaw]

Hide glue will probably be more work than TB, but you will get more benefit from the sinew.

[Bryce]

Sinew is too magical to pass up.

It gets easier over time. You'll get your own rhythm for it.
Then it goes pretty quick. Then it's just a waiting game

[okie64]

you wont get nearly as much reflex out of it

What are you basing that on? Have you tried it with different glues or are you simply going off what someone else has told you? Im not trying to be a smart a%$, Im just curious what makes you believe that?

Hide glue will probably be more work than TB, but you will get more benefit from the sinew.

Do you mean it will make the sinew work more by pulling the limbs into more reflex?

[Pappy]

Yes and yes,tb will work and hold down the sinew but it drys way quicker so won't let the sinew draw like hide glue which dries at about the same rate as the sinew. Putting it on with tb is more or less for protection,And yes I have used it both ways. If I am going to the trouble of sinew it will be with hide glue, otherwise I just use rawhide and TB3. jmo. 
   Pappy

[okie64]

Thanks for the info Pappy, that makes sense to me.

[blackhawk]

I'm with pappy..I have used both as well and hide glue is better..plain n simple. To add to what pappy said take a thin slat board and rip it in half lengthwise..coat one with hide glue,and coat one with titebond...and guess what happens...the hide glue alone will pull the slat into some reflex as it shrinks,but titebond will not. If you use titebond you basically have to induce that reflex,and yes it'll work,but you won't get as much shrinkage from the sinew it and won't be maximizing the sinew to its full potential IMHO. And yes guys use TB for sinew,but do you see hornbow bowyers using it?  Nope...hmmm..I wonder why?

[Oglala Bowyer]

I guess it's how you look at it.  I don't look at sinewing bows as "work".  Rather, something I enjoy investing all my time and energy into.  I see it for what it will be once I'm done with it (a meat maker).  So, yes it is worth my time and effort. 

[BowEd]

Just the few sinewd bows I've done I'd say it's worth it.Even at 60" long.To me it's all about after shot profile and sinew done right on the right bow will show more after shot reflexed profile in most cases negating the weight.Like Bryce said the process gets easier every time.Not the waiting though.
Hide glue is best.Also there's more uses for sinew besides backing a bow.Mostly wraps but it's hard to beat for effectiveness.It's a good tool to have around.

[killir duck]

ok some might call me crazy but about 2 weeks ago i sinew backed a 70" r/d ironwood longbow i had it braced at about 5" and was looking good tiller-wise, but it had really bad runoff grain, i had rawhide but was saving it for another bow so i sinewed just the working limbs, so the last 8" of the limbs have no sinew the limbs are 1.5" at the fades and a straight taper to just under 3/8" nocks, it's not a really fast bow but it's no dog either, it has about 3" of reflex and 1" of deflex in the 15" closest to the fades, it has verry little string follow (less than 1/2") and it's extremely stable with no hand shock and i can eisely put 6 arrows in pieplate at 30 yards, so maybe the sinew wasn't needed but on the other hand i have a real good shooting stable bow. so yes i think sinew is worth the effort if used in the right way a bow that would work without sinew should not be sinewed.

[tom sawyer]

The first time I did a sinew job I thought it was a real pain.  Like anything, with a little practice and practical experience, the job isn't so bad.  Processing the sinew is probably the worst part of it all.  Those tendons are tough stuff to pull apart!  I do three or four and my hands get tired.

[raghorns]

I just sinewed my first. It's a 60 in. hop horn beam. It had a bad dent in the middle of the bottom limb that wanted to put out a tiny longitudinal crack...rather than wrap the spot, I thought it was a good opportunity to use the backstrap sinew I had processed.

I appreciated Mike Yancey sharing with me about the one finger, "pat / pat / pat" method. I agree that it is only work if you have that mindset. I was once in the garden complaining to myself and feeling miserable, when I got a cell phone call from a friend...he ask, "what are you doing?" I answered, "i'm in the garden", and before I could start complaining, he said, "well you're doing what you enjoy." I knew he was right...the rest of the day was a joy.

Building bows is such a joy...may it never be anything else.

Lyle     

 

[okie64]

Thanks for all the responses and opinions fellers. I probably will try some again, I think at the time that I posted this topic I was just a little frustrated with the time it took and the mess that it made. The stave had 2.5 inches of reflex starting out so we'll see how it turns out.

[PEARL DRUMS]

You will refine your techique as you do more, its gets mush easier trust me. I stay away from leg tendons and use only back tendons as well, they are much easier to process.

[Christian Soldier]

I'd prefer to just have a self bow, mainly because its just less work.

Most of my bows are hickory areund 60-65" long so they don't really benefit that much.
And because I'm not yet that good of a hunter, I'd have to buy the sinew which doesn't work well with my $0 bow budget. 

I did make a west coast short bow last year that was a self and took a good bit of set, I could see that bow with a sinew backing and some extra reflex.

I've also used hemp backing to repair a bow which had a real bad back splinter and it still works today. That is another reason I'd back.

For me, its worth it on a short bow or a damaged bow, but I prefer my longer bows just as they are.