starting first sinew project, 200 yr osage?

[k-hat]

So I got quite a bit of deer leg sinew (and some back sinew) from George Stoneberg (thanks George!!!) a while back, and finally worked up the guts to use it.  I've been eyeing this sweet little osage fencepost bow I made a couple years ago, and I think she's a perfect candidate.  I was hoping to get a hunting bow out of her, but there just wasn't enough good wood left after taking away all the rot from the fencepost.  She's 52" ntn, about 35-40# at my 26" draw.  I want to lay a couple courses of sinew and see how she responds.  I got her shooting, then applied shellac as a temporary sealant until I could decide what I wanted to do with her.  She had a few issues:  a good deal of natural deflex out of the grip area, a gouge in the grip running length-wise or about 6" that  I filled with osage dust and glue, and a windcheck splitting the last 8 inches of one limb.  I made an ugly side nock to keep that check together all the way to the tip instead of running out before the nock, I was a little nervous about that. 

Per the title, this was a fencepost that was verified to have gone in the ground over 100 years ago, and was a quarter from a very large tree, so the wood is in the 150 to 200 year old range.  Pretty cool.

I know string angle is going to be an issue at this length, so I went ahead and recurved the tips today.  Had good success with a new method I'm trying for steaming, whereas usually these old fence post bows get all kinds of splits and break apart when I boil, heat gun, or steam otherwise.  Here is her current status:

Side profile before recurving:


Front profile before recurving:


Side profile after recurving:


Front profile after recurving:


The wind check with ugly nock:


I think I'll treat it normally now and just wrap the beginning of the split with sinew. 

I also have a couple of snake skins I may apply as well ( I think a rattler that George also bestowed upon me, and another my aunt killed that I don't remember what type it was, but it had a beautiful skin).

I've had thoughts of backsetting the grip and making her a 5 curve bow as well.  What your y'alls thoughts?

[TimBo]

That is some absolutely gorgeous osage.  I think the profile is sweet as is, but I have never really been a fan of the five curve shape, so take that for what it's worth!

[simson]

Boah, I would like to get my hands on something old sage like this
Bow looks good btw.

[PEARL DRUMS]

My vote would be to keep the profile as-is. Looking good so far.

[k-hat]

simson if you didn't live across the doggone water I might entertain sending you a piece just for the sheer joy of seeing what you turned out off it 

the 5 curve is a temptation PD and Tim, but I am also learning to leave "well-enough" alone! 

So if I do 2 courses of sinew using knox gelatin, what kind of shrinkage/reflex should I expect as it dries?  Should I be concerned about splintering the belly?  She's carrying about an inch of set as-is.

BTW don't expect this to be a short project, my son is working with me on this one and it's at best every other weekend (finally got him interested in a bowmaking project!  we'll see how long it lasts).

[upstatenybowyer]

I might steam in just a bit more reflex in the mids, but like the others are saying the profile looks fine as is. With sinew it should hold whatever profile you decide on pretty well.

The story behind the wood is too cool. 

Keep us "posted" no pun intended.

[k-hat]

upstate I agree a little more mid reflex would look good.  After a lot of thought, however, I'm going to stick with how I began this bow... simple, straightforward, and as "natural/primitive" as possible.  I actually haven't touched this bow with heat until I did the recurves.  All the other curves are pure and natural, and when i started this one a while back that was my intention to do it as "native' as I can. 

A little tiller tweaking and then sinew and maybe skins.  I'll post when I make some more progress  

[Aaron H]

Very cool  .   I like that a lot.  Glad you decided to keep the natural lines of the stave. Depending on the amount of sinew you lay down, you should expect around 2-3" pulled in reflex when that sinew dries completely, although some of that will be lost as you tiller.

[NorthHeart]

Aaron- when you refer to the sinew drying and pulling the bow into reflex, do you mean with hide glue or any glue?  Though i have seen other peoples builds do this with hide glue, i have personally used TB3 exclusively and have never had one pull into reflex.  So im wondering if its a hide glue thing, or am i just not using enough sinew?

[k-hat]

240 from what I've been reading, I don't think it happens with pva glues, just hide glues due to their shrinkage as they dry, as I understand it.

[simson]

Aaron- when you refer to the sinew drying and pulling the bow into reflex, do you mean with hide glue or any glue?  Though i have seen other peoples builds do this with hide glue, i have personally used TB3 exclusively and have never had one pull into reflex.  So im wondering if its a hide glue thing, or am i just not using enough sinew?

You have to use hide glue or fish glue to get that effect. and brace the bow bachwards while glue is drying. PVA settles down quickly and does not allow the reflexing, or only little.
Hide glue is cheap and easy to handle!

[Aaron H]

Simon got it right, it must be a collagen glue.  I use hide glue (or knox) and reverse brace about an inch right after laying down the sinew (normally one single heavy course).  As the sinew and collagen glue dries it will shrink and gain you more reflex.

[k-hat]

What kind of ratio do yall ue for knox?  the little package says 1 cup water per packet, but that's for jiggly food-like substances.  I don't want jiggly food-like substances

[Aaron H]

Thin syrup consistency @ around 140°, if it's too hot for your fingers, it's too hot for the sinew

[Bryce]

I’ve always wanted to work an old fence post. Have fun!