Drilling out knots?

[cool_98_555]

I have an osage bow I just finished tillering and shooting in.  There is only one knot on the bow, and it is about 8" from one tip, right in the middle of the width.  I shot this knot with superglue several times throughout making this bow.  There is a tiny hairline crack that goes through the knot, perpendicular to the grain.  I can see where the knot goes through the belly side at that point.  would it be possible to just drill it out?  I've been shooting it a lot, even after the superglue and it seems fine.  The limb bends just a little at the tips because it's a longbow.  No reflex at all.  The knot doesn't seem to be rotten at all, but that tiny crack is getting to me, even if it shoots great after so many arrows already.  I'm going to back it with snakeskin later, but before I do I want to make absolutely sure that that knot isn't going to be a problem for me.  Any ideas?  I don't want to reflex the tips because I just want a longbow with straight limbs.  I wouldn't mind having a hole in the limb from a drilled out knot, but not sure if it would hold after that.  If i were to drill out the knot, I wouldn't want to fill it either, just leave it as a hole.

[Limbwalker]

Can you post a picture? Might help. I've never drilled a knot out on a bow, though I have dug some out. It's hard to say because if the knot is part of the structural integrity of the limb then drilling it out might hurt the bow. I let knots' do what they want. If it's not load bearing and wants to come out, I will take it out.

I may be overlooking a sort of filling that other people might have experience with. Sort of a cavity filling. Maybe someone else knows about that. Basically driliiing the knot out and replacing the hole thus making it better off than with knot. But then again you like having the open hole.

The crack you mentioned makes it hard to give any ideas because that could be a game changer too. Put up a pic and I'm sure someone more experienced might give you a tip. Hope it works out, I guess I just worry about opening a can of worms that could lead to more problems but it may be just fine too; around I go and I'm hopping off here, good luck.

One last thing I forgot, how many rings go around the knot? Usually if there are a couple I think it's pretty safe, however there is the crack.

[cool_98_555]

Drilling it out would remove the crack since it is so small.

[DC]

I can't talk about Osage but just about every Yew knot has a little crack across it. I would say that if the knot is tight and small the CA is all you need.

[cool_98_555]

It is very small and I've shot it with superglue many times over the course of shooting it in.  I haven't made a yew bow yet but I didn't know yew usually had knots with cracks.  That says something if yew is notorious for making bows 100#+ in draw weight.

[Del the cat]

IMO
If the crack is actually in the knot, then it's just like a drying crack in a small round log and I wouldn't worry about it.
What happens in the knot stays in the knot...
If there is bark like material or any loose stuff that dig it out, punch out the knot (if it won't come out with a firm tap with a hammer and punch, then it's probably solid enough to leave in) and fill it.
Bear in mind most of my experience is with Yew rather than Osage, not dealt with Osage knots, so I may be barking up the wrong species of tree 
Del

[DC]

How small is very small? Like Limbwalker said a picture would be nice.

[Pat B]

Pics!

[bradsmith2010]

leave well enough alone,,
please dont ask me how i know this,, 

[Danzn Bar]

Knots are usually much harder than the surrounding wood and has a tendency to crack until it reaches the softer "live" wood.  If the crack doesn't move /get longer after shooting 50 to 100 times, add superglue and don't worry about it. It's osage....JMIO.
DBar