Yank, Nice work on the knife ,,,When hafting knives , I almost never use hide glue when I put sinew on a haft,, Just soak the sinew in warm water or chew it up a bit as the spit creates a glue on sinew
wrap the sinew until it looks a little thick cause it will shrink a bit,, let it dry overnight , then I use clear two part epoxy to cover the sinew for a waterproof cover.
A little secret to hafting I learned a few years back when using epoxy as a glue in the socket of a haft, is to put a drop of Indian ink in the glue mixture after you mix it up, and it turns it coal black so as to look like pitch and it doesn't affect the strength of the glue.
wvflintknapper