Author Topic: Sinew popped loose on short bow?  (Read 1921 times)

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Offline Mo_coon-catcher

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Sinew popped loose on short bow?
« on: March 21, 2013, 06:49:12 pm »
I was out trying an osage character bow that I just got done tillering (I under shot the weight a bit). But I took a short sinew backed osage with me. I had just put a finish on it a couple of weeks ago and let it cure for a bit. I shot it about 6 times then I came to full draw and I hear and felt a pop. The bow has a compresion fracture where it started as a longer bow that was one of my first that I decided to remake. It had a hing with a lot of set and a cracked formed when I straightened it. I thinned it till the crack was gone. But I thought this is what blew but it was just the sinew popping off. This finish I used was teak oil, so I'm thinking that the oil might have penetrated to the glue and made it let loose. My question is, is can I reglue it back down, or would it be better if I put new sinew on it. But the stats on the bow is that it is about 52" ntn and drew about 45lbs at 27". It was heat treated and has 2 layers of sinew. The bow 3-4 hundred shots through it when it decided to let go. It started with about 1.5" of reflex and ended up straight. this is not including the flipped tips. The sinew was covered in silver carp skin that had the scale pattern removed then stained. This was more of an experiment that turned out ugly. But what do you all think would be a good fix for this?

Offline osage outlaw

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Re: Sinew popped loose on short bow?
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2013, 07:43:02 pm »
Did you use any oil while heat bending/straightening this bow?

Did you degrease the back of the bow with Dawn dish soap or acetone before sinewing?
I started out with nothin' and I still got most of it left

Offline Pat B

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Re: Sinew popped loose on short bow?
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2013, 09:02:54 pm »
What glue did you use? If hide glue you can rehydrate the whole backing and remove the sinew. It can be cleaned and saved so you can re-sinew the bow. I did this a few years ago with "Elkie" a bow I made for an elk hunt.  I reglued down the sinew a few times before I took it off completely. I didn't put the sinew back on the same bow but built a new bow from scratch. 
  If you remove the sinew, clean it and the bow you can add the sinew back with better results. I wash sinew with warm water and Dawn dish detergent(the original blue) and rinse well with warm fresh water. I also scrub down the bows back with Dawn and warm water and rinse it with boiling water. With the bow being very clean and somewhat rehydrated a sizing of thin super glue will sink into the wood more. Now start adding the sinew. I would not use an oil finish except Tru-Oil which goes down thin and sets up relatively quick so it is more of a surface sealer.
  If you used TBIII, heat up the sinew, peel it up loose from the bow and throw it away.
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Joec123able

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Re: Sinew popped loose on short bow?
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2013, 09:11:14 pm »
Yea it could have been the oil that loosened the glue joint what kind of glue did you use ??
I like osage

Offline Mo_coon-catcher

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Re: Sinew popped loose on short bow?
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2013, 09:24:20 pm »
For glue I had used knox gelatin  then used tight bond 2 to glue on the fish skin. I didn't have any acetone so I used rubbing alcohol  to wipe down the bow with before I started. I'll probably pitch the skin and try to reuse the sinew. hopefully the stain didn't mess up the sinew for reuse. There wasn't much sinew on the bow so I might ad another layer when I put it back on.

Offline Pat B

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Re: Sinew popped loose on short bow?
« Reply #5 on: March 22, 2013, 12:14:35 am »
I hope you can get the TBII glue off of the sinew. The Knox will dissolve in warm water.
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Joec123able

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Re: Sinew popped loose on short bow?
« Reply #6 on: March 22, 2013, 12:28:11 am »
I think the tite bond will be harder to get off the sinew but if you soak it in warm water long enough you can probably work it off the sinew
I like osage