HHB Selfbow - Am I in Trouble?

[SLIMBOB]

Looks to me like it’s cracked behind the dent, and the crack runs right off the edge. If that’s an accurate assessment, it will break right there. The dent will make it happen quicker. I know the opinions have varied greatly, but that’s what I see, right or wrong.

[DC]

Good eye Slim, I never noticed that. That could make the difference. Maybe a thread or sinew wrap?

[SLIMBOB]

Yep. Super glue, and then wrap it. Fast flight string makes a bullet proof wrap once it is soaked in CA glue. That’s my thoughts.

[PatM]

You still have to get the bark off without adding to that mistake.   I would rawhide back after smoothing the whole back down past that gouge.

[Russ]

+1 for slimbob

[nguidi328]

Well, I appreciate all the input folks, pretty bummed about this.

So the crack I think is a actually a cut, since it does intersect where that hatchet mark was.  And much to my surprise, the cut goes deeper than the hatchet nick.  I would think it was a crack at that point, but it doesn't run with the grain, leading me to believe its a cut (very straight line across the grain).

In any case, I've sanded down pretty far and it hasn't gone away, most definitely sanded through several growth rings on the back.

So I guess I have to back it?  Any preference for sinew or rawhide for HHB?  I'm afraid I won't hit my target weight now of 50# but I do have some to spare (floor-tillered) and I suppose the backing would add some poundage.

Since the growth rings are very thin with HHB, I can't tell how far into the center of the back that top growth ring goes.  The close-up is the spot sanded to 800 grit with tung oil.

All advice is much appreciated! Thanks!

[bradsmith2010]

all of the suggestions have been good advice,,, so I am not disagreeing at all,, this is just what I would do,,
I like to sinew back so that is always an option for me,,
I would take it down past that cut,Im not saying its necessary), then I would get it strung and calculate what I could get on my weight,,, if it is too light as a self bow,, then I would sinew back,, or finish it out in a lighter weight and move on to the next,,
thats just how I would do it now,,that being said,,
you could rawhide back as is,,
sinew back as is,, or make it as is and  hope it holds up,, putting a wrap as suggested seems like a good way to go as well,,
I just made so many bows for other people,, I only put wraps on my own bows and would avoid that when making a bow for someone else,,
those are just my thoughts and only one way to approach it,,
the guys that have worked with the wood that said make it as is had a good point as well,,

[SLIMBOB]

I'm gonna wax philosophical, and this is easier to preach than practice, but it's just a piece of wood until it flings an arrow.  Best not to get too attached in case that piece of wood never does fling an arrow, which is a likely outcome with 'em.  Having said that, it sucks investing time in these things and losing them.  Fortunately yours is not a loss.  You just have to do some problem solving.  The really good bow makers I know can all tiller pretty well, and sand and finish, but they all have one big thing in common that's more important.  They are all problem solvers.  If you build enough of these things you'll run head first into every conceivable problem you can think up,  Some wont be worth tackling the lost cause, but others, it's just a matter of figuring it out.  This one can still be made into that nice bow you want.  And it may be even more satisfying in the end knowing you overcame the obstacles that might have beaten many others. 
Sinew is a big investment time wise, but it will fix it I believe.  PatM says rawhide, another good idea.  A thread wrap and CA glue is another option.  Good luck and and just have fun with it.

[rps3]

I've made quite a few bows of eastern hhb and have broken more of those in tension than any other wood. You could say it is because I am not a good bowyer, but no other wood has given me the fits this wood has. With that in mind, I would definitely take steps to minimize the risk of breakage if I was going to invest alot of time into a stave. A backing of some sort is what I would shoot for at this point. Good luck and keep us posted.

[DC]

I've never even seen a piece of HHB so take this with some salt. PatM mentioned that you still have bark to remove. Is the darker stuff in the pictures bark? If so once you get that off this spot might not look so bad. I can't see the whole limb so I don't really know how much you've removed but it doesn't look that bad to me.

[PatM]

That is the inner bark.   One thing to keep in mind is that HHB is often riddled with something like sawfly larva tracks which can leave grown over  lines, squiggles and  fossilized larvae that failed to exit.  That's likely the cause of most tension failures in this wood.

[bradsmith2010]

at this point ,, please do something so we dont go crazy trying to fix it,,

[nguidi328]

Haha, Ok!

So I’m going to back it. Before I do, how should I go about smoothing down the back?  The first growth ring is very amorphous and has lots of ridges and troughs. I guess I need to cut through that down to where the smoother rings are, to get close to having just a few violated rings?

[PatM]

Just reduce it to a smooth  shallow arc that matches the general profile.  With rawhide it won't make any difference if you go through all the rings as long as you follow the general grain profile.

[nguidi328]

Ok, after lots of reading and planning, I’m about to sinew back it.  But, I really wanted to add tip overlays, and have already violated the rings at the tips in  sanding down a shallow angle for overlays, and already epoxied one overlay on. 

Now I’m thinking I should have sinewed, then ground the tips and epoxied the overlays.

So, should I continue, and sinew wrap the ends up to and even a little past/over the overlays, or should I remove the one overlay, sinew back, then sand off the sinew so there’s a clean junction between the overlay and sinew?

Mostly worried about leaving violated rings between the overlays and sinew backing.

Do you always have to wrap the sinew at the ends, and does that wrap stay or is it just for curing purposes?