Handle too thin, what to do?

[CamSkye]

Hey there guys what's going on? So I have this sinew backed hackberry bow with heat treated belly that is 52 inches long, one inch wide  handle which is 4 inches long, for 2 inches it fades into 2 inch wide limbs that then taper into 1/2 wide lever tips which are 5 inches long. Sinew backed with one layer, 2 layers on the handle. Basically I got the handle way to thin, its like 7/16ths of an inch thick, it also cracked in a little spot and is very weak there. I wrapped that area with sinew to help secure it. What I have tried to do to fix this thin handle is to just tie about a 3/4 inch thick piece of juniper tightly to the handle, unfortunately that didn't work and that spot that cracked continues to bend very easily despite the tied on piece of wood being there. So I need to ask for some help because I just don't know what to do. I don't think gluing a riser onto the handle is an option because the handle isn't perfectly flat it kinda has some slight dips in it. Hopefully someone can help me. Thank you.

[Pat B]

Build up a riser with leather of cork and let it bend with the bow.

[CamSkye]

So do you build it up with glue or could I tie it on do you think?

[Pat B]

I've always glue leather on and I guess the same would be for cork. I guess you could tie it on to see how you liked it.

[Dakota Kid]

You can use layers of wood laminations also. If you keep them thin, they should be able to bend to match the dips in the handle for a decent glue up. Several layers of wood will take some of the bend out if it's moving too much there. Gluing them instead of tying will do a better job stiffening the area.

If you wanted to stiffen the handle further to make it nearly non- bending, I'd place some flat pieces of bone on all sides of the handle. Then wrap it all up with wet raw hide. When the hide dries it should shrink quite a bit, squeezing the bone to the handle. Coat the whole thing with TB to water proof it and put your desired handle wrap over it when it dries.

[willie]

can you post a pic of the crack?

there are many options to build up an area, including laying down more sinew or other fiber

[CamSkye]

Very interesting ideas guys. Sorry Willie I can't post a pic because the sinew wrap is covering it so that won't do any good. It's a pretty severe crack though. I appreciate the help guys.

[willie]

is the crack across the handle or along the length of the bow?

[CamSkye]

Willie, the crack is all the way across the handle and it's about an inch long and it's cracked down pretty far, so it's extremely weak, I only strung it up once and it was an enourmous hinge.

[Pat B]

You had better use a rigid splint of some sort or that sounds lethal.

[CamSkye]

Pat B, right, I think this hackberry stave was like 80 dollars or something so I really hope I can make this work, sinew is no big deal since I can just soak it off.

[willie]

that does sound pretty ugly. at first I thought that you had sinew on the back, but you say that you wrapped? it with sinew. like maybe around the crack? if so I would consider removing the sinew and making a patch on the back of the bow with a decent piece of wood. you would have to taper it in on the ends, but it would not hurt to flatten the back some and do it with a couple of thinner laminations. Del might come along shortly and link to some patches he has done.

Is it a sinew backed bow?

[CamSkye]

Willie, the entire bow is sinew backed except for the lever tips, it's one layer of sinew on the limbs and two layers on the handle. I then wrapped sinew around the crack. So you think I should remove the sinew on the handle and then I'm assuming gluing a piece of wood onto the handle?

[CamSkye]

The handle is less than a half an inch thick so I don't think removing anymore would be a very good idea.

[loon]

in TBB they talk about fixing hinges by patching plant fibers (flax, or hemp) on the back with glue. I guess it'd be titebond 2 or 3..