I Broke One Today

[Drewster]

One more thought.  If the wood was too dry, would it have caused a break like this.  I had put the stave in my hot box for five or six days at 95-100°, 35-38% relative humidity.  The stave was only loosing .2 gram of weight a day so it must have been getting pretty dry.  Just a thought.

[Badly Bent]

I've had two black locust break just like that. One was rawhide backed and snapped clean through at an ever so tiny pin knot at mid limb, broke right through the rawhide too. Any chance there was an unseen pin knot at your break Drew?
Now that I think about it I've had three tension breaks with BL. The third one I forgot about was just a few weeks ago, no frets, no pin knots and no visible set taken. Had it looking good I thought at 20" and pulled to 21" when it exploded. When I accessed the situation I came to the conclusion that I had gotten this one too dry by keeping it in the really hot hotbox for a couple weeks after floor tiller. Tossed it aside and vowed to forget about it,..... and did until now.

[Badly Bent]

Looks like I was typing my reply at the same time as your last one Drew. The potentially too dry bow I described was in the box apprx. 2 weeks at about 115*. I only had it out about 6 hours when I got it tillered to 20" draw and snapped her. Too dry may very well have been the cause of yours failing too.

[Pat B]

Drew, it was more of a feel thing rather than a see thing. The early wood had a more grainy feel and it would delaminate when it was stressed. The latewood was sound on the locust here. The early wood would let loose. I'm surprised it broke across the back. 

[huisme]

I still can't picture that break coming from anything other than a pin knot or I suppose low mc, though I pull my locust no more than two hours after cooling from heat treating/bending. The pin knot failure I mentioned was pretty violent, the whole back ring on the one limb delaminated and one splinter embedded itself in the sheetrock. No experience over-drying locust here.

[Prignitzer bowman]

Hi Drewster, don't want to sound silly here, but I'm going to anyway aren't I? But, are you sure that is locust? On my computer it just doesn't have the right colour, some how reminds me more of ash - had an ash molly do exactly the same thing at the same place after I had shot it about a hundred times. Shame as it was a fast bow.
Prignitzer

[randman]

That was my question but nobody else but Prignitzer said it....That don't look much like any black locust I've ever seen....I woulda said ash or hazel or maple, something like that just looking at the color of the wood...I've seen maple breaks that look just like that.....Unless it's locust sapwood and then the dark heartwood doesn't even show up on the thickest part of the grip.....

[huisme]

It looks a lot like a lot of the locust I use, especially looking at the pin knot and how the porous ends of the rings are so much darker looking at them straight on than skewed. Furthermore most (all?) ash has darker early wood than late. I'd pick it out as locust without being told.

[joachimM]

Can you provide dimensons: length, width, thickness where it broke etc. To me it looks a bit narrow for such a design.

[huisme]

I've got another molle at just over 1^3/8" wide just out of the fades and that's pretty normal for anything between forty and fifty pounds and normal draw length. If the locust was underbuilt it should chrysal like crazy and fold before it snaps its back, but the dimensions would still be helpful.

[Drewster]

The stave is most definitely locust.  I split the stave out of the log myself.  I noticed the wood looked kinda "faded" too in the picture.  I think it was the combination of florescent and natural light in my shop, but definitely locust.  My camera just didn't depict the color accurately.

The bow was 69" ntn, 1 3/4" wide at the fades and tapered to 1 1/2" at the levers.  The belly was slightly radiused.  The limb is a few thousandths shy of 5/8" just above the break.  It should have worked. 

After these discussions, I'm thinking the cause was that the wood was too dry. I just looked again and I cannot see any evidence of a pin knot.  The wood in that area looks clean.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Fades look good form my seat. I don't see that being a culprit.

[paco664]

i always blame my breaks on elves... they sneak in and sabotage everything... lol