Author Topic: How to continue with this hole in the limb (Read 5615 times)

(bow)Hunter · « **on:** May 23, 2016, 01:24:40 pm »

I received this pretty Osage stave from Danny 2 years ago - I was able to start on it but then school started it up and last summer I had to work and take classes all summer and couldn't find any time to put into it. I finally have a couple of weeks off and was SUPER excited to put this baby in action. As I was shaving down the belly to get her on the tillering stand, I came across this eaten away section about halfway up the top limb. I am kind of devastated because it doesn't look particularly salvageable... There's a crack that appears to go all the way through (you can see the crack in the middle of the knot on the back of the bow in the last picture) anyone have any suggestions? Only thing I could think of was fill it with superglue and sawdust and then wrap it with sinew. I might be able to carve the section out completely but that is really risky I feel like, that would take out about 1/3rd of that part of the limb.
- Hunter

mikekeswick · « **Reply #1 on:** May 23, 2016, 01:36:11 pm »

The first thing to do is establish the ring for the back. Don't leave any extra at the knot. Once you've done this you can decide what to do.
What width do you have?

(bow)Hunter · « **Reply #2 on:** May 23, 2016, 01:44:40 pm »

Mike I've got about 2 and a quarter inches at the hole which I guess is pretty wide thinking about it now? With about 0.5 inch thick all the way through give or take although there is a pretty big crown right there at the back of the hole. I can post some more pictures

bradsmith2010 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 23, 2016, 01:53:41 pm »

its pretty hard to tell what you are doing from the pics,,
if the back is to one growth ring, you can probably get rid of the knot, or go around it,,
could you give us a pic of the whole stave tip to tip,, belly and back,, so we can see how to lay out the bow with the knot
don't take off any more belly wood till you get the back to one ring

(bow)Hunter · « **Reply #4 on:** May 23, 2016, 02:32:13 pm »

Got it! I'm relatively new so any help would be much appreciated!

osage outlaw · « **Reply #5 on:** May 23, 2016, 02:55:26 pm »

That looks like plenty of width to remove that knot. Most of my osage bows have limbs around 1.5" wide or less. Like everyone else said, chase your back ring before you remove any thickness.