Sinew - To Fuss or Not to Fuss

[loon]

There was this one method of wrapping or something to remove cracks on sinew, maybe it'd also work on the lifted areas? saw it by beaumont vance on ATARN facebook

[turtle]

There is a sticky near the top of bow page on making sinew smooth.

[DesertDisciple]

Thanks guys I appreciate all the tips. I'm not worried about the overall smoothness of the sinew, just the edges where little gaps have formed. Thought I could bevel those off to emphasize the crown a bit.

 If I don't find any roadkill serpents within the next 2 weeks I plan to coat with TB3 and paint.

[gutpile]

uh..am I the only one seeing this.... the sinew isn't holding down and looks like its going to pop off..... I am sinewing a ERC. 3 inch reflex right now..I hang a weight from handle and let cure..in 3rd week now..I wont touch it for at least a month.. minimum... but mine is tight on bow from tip to tip and side to side...gut

[BowEd]

Really hard to tell from pic.I see what you are seeing too.As long as he sized good and proper things should be ok.Attention to details on these type bows are a must for sure.You get what you put into it.The longer you wait the better.

[DesertDisciple]

Gutpile and Beadman, I know exactly what you are looking at. I'm fairly certain the sinew is staying down just fine. I scored and seized the back twice after degreasing with dawn and hot water. What youre seeing is where the sinew didn't blend very well and the top layer laid right over the one below, making a ledge.

My first layer was sinew I bought and processed myself. I won't bore you with too many details, but in short it wasn't as finely processed and possibly didn't hydrate long enough before application. I finished with 2 more layers of sinew processed by Osage Outlaw which laid like baby angel hair. My plan was to cover the ugly side with pretty stuff. I'm thinking the upper layers maybe shrank slightly more than the first which caused the ledge.

I already know I won't get max performance out of this bow but I'm happy either way to get my hands on and learn from it. Should I soak some more sinew and fill those spots?

Thanks.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Its fine. Don't worry about that tiny bare edge. If the sinew is holding tight, just forget about it and move along. Once you add skins or rawhide to cover it you wont see any of it. Sinew works a lot like wood, high spots to the lions share. If you domed your sinew then those edges are doing much anyway.

[DesertDisciple]

Thanks all glad to have the feedback. Sinew is looking good and bow has pulled into about 2" of reflex. It's been a month and I'm waiting until the weekend to resume tillering.  Finally have some pretty stuff to put on top so I'm feeling good about this one.

Now, I gave it a little flex with my bowstringer and... holy moth balls.  I won't be able to brace it! I had it tillered to about 20" and on track for my intended draw weight. Does sinew need to be exercised a bit before I start removing by wood? Ive heard to take it easy as coming under weight is a common issue after sinewing.

I did flip the tips and temper the belly before sinewing and reflex is fairly pronounced. Any input welcome.

[Newindian]

Flipping tips+tempering+ sinew should add quite a bit maybe 10lbs hard to say really, what you should look out for is that all that reflex will give it more early draw weight making it feel heavier than it is.

[DesertDisciple]

So essentially I can just scrape minimally until I get it to low brace and then tiller from there?

[Newindian]

That's what I'd do

[Stick Bender]

I have only made2 sinew bows but learned a lot doing it one came in about 7 lb lite the othere I got spot on but both bows after resting for a few months picked up a little weight ,there is nothing delicate about sinews tention strength it has to get a lot of streching to reveal its self the one Im working on now when sinewed Im going to bring it to brace heavy also the one I got spot on I tillered to about 20 in & shot maybe 100 arrows then kepted tillering up & shooting more arrows tell I got to final draw dont know if thats the right way but worked for me. Sinew is fasanating stuff but has a pretty fair learning curve at least for me.