removing sinew(update on page two)

[seabass]

hey guys,i started a little sinew backed bow along time ago.a did a really bad job on the sinew.i put the bow away and forgot about it.now that i found it,i would like to remove the sinew and finish this little bow.i read on here before about people putting a wet towel on the sinew to remove it.i would like a little more info on the best way to go about this and the tools you would use.thanks guys in advance.

[toomanyknots]

Last time I removed sinew, I put the whole bow under the faucet in the bath tub and ran it under hot water. Eventually it started coming off, but it lifted some wood with it. Hide glue is tough stuff. I wonder, would it melt with a heat gun?

[seabass]

i am not sure about the heat gun Daniel.i haven't tried anything yet.i was wanting to get some feedback first.it is osage wood and i used real hide glue if that helps any.

[blackhawk]

Why do you want to remove it? Just cus it looks bad cosmetically? That's easily remedied if that's the case.

[seabass]

i want to remove it because i was very inexperienced at the time and want to do some tweaking to the blank.plus i did a very bad job on the sinew.i would like to comb it on straighter and thinner.

[JLoranger]

Do not heat sinew it cooks it and it will shrivel up. Even very hot water will cause this to happen. I think your best bet is a warm moist/wet towel over an extended period of time. Let the hide glue and sinew rehydrate a bit and slowly strip it off.

[seabass]

thanks JLoranger.i will stay away from the heat gun.what tools would you use to strip it off with?

[PEARL DRUMS]

You can scrape it off to. Its work.

[seabass]

you are right Chris,it would be alot of work.it was my second attempt and i really laid it on.it will be embarrassing,but i'll try and get a pic of it.

[seabass]

here is a pic of my crappy second attempt.i did this a long time ago.i just found it and want to redo it.

[bcbull]

hey lil buddy  if it was me  if  ur fixin flip the tips or somehthing

 just take off the end s  and do what u gota do  leave what on it on it  and start a new layer cover the bad stuff u dont like   just a thought  it dont look all that  bad  but i aint sure what ya mean by tweaking it  give us some more info  after all sinew is sinew so cover it  brock

[MWirwicki]

Steve:  From what I can see, you're sinew job isn't too bad.  To me it looks like you used too much hide glue and maybe tried to fill in the gaps with hide glue, also.  My first few sinew jobs, I did the same and got the cracks in the glue like you have.  It really doesn't hurt anything.  Just makes a lot of noise and scares the bejesus outta ya. 

You may be able to "wipe" some of the excess hide glue off with a warm water soaked rag.  If there's a finish on it, scrape it off first.  It will take a little time.  Its kinda like getting to the Tootsie Roll in the center of a Tootsie Pop.  It'll take a lot of licks but you'll eventually get to it. 

Good Luck!

[seabass]

thanks guys.the reason that i want to take it off is to do some corrections.this is one of the first bows that i had started a long time ago.i didn't straighten some prop twist and limb allignment problems.this was a good stave and now that i know more,i would like to correct these problems and do a better sinew job.i have learned alot since i put up this bow.once i make these corrections,i am going to add some reflex and flip the tips a little.next go round,i'll comb my sinew properly and use less hide glue.

[osage outlaw]

Pat removed the sinew on his bow called Elky I think.  If I remember right he kept moist rags on the limbs for a while.  Maybe he can chime in and give some accurate details about it.

[Bryce]

Soak it in the tub.  ^^^