Sinew minimum length

[DC]

What length do you keep for bow backing and what length goes in the glue pot?

[Eric Garza]

You can back with short sinew pieces as long as you overlap them well. Longer pieces do not add strength to the backing, in my opinion, but they do help the process go faster.

[DC]

How long is a short piece?

[maitus]

I make about 2 1/2'' overlaps, so I would say twice as much

[PEARL DRUMS]

I prefer at least 12-14" back strap pieces and I prefer no more than 3 over lapped seams per limb, preferably only 2 per. I know I can grab both ends of a 12" piece of sinew and not have a chance at breaking it. But, if I take two 6" pieces and hide glue them together I can pull them right back apart. So, I approach it differently than Mr. Garza does.

[mmattockx]

I prefer at least 12-14" back strap pieces

This seems an appropriate time to ask about actually getting the sinew off the meat. Is there a good tutorial on this? I have cut up my share of deer and that sinew fights tooth and nail when trying to get it cleanly off the backstrap meat.

DC, if you want to keep this to just the length issues let me know and I will start a new thread for my sinew questions.


Mark

[PEARL DRUMS]

Mark, the sinew will come easily. Flip the strap over on your block so the sinew is down. Lay your knife flat and pull the strap "through" the knife, just like filleting fish. It takes seconds and comes off very clean.

[mmattockx]

Mark, the sinew will come easily. Flip the strap over on your block so the sinew is down. Lay your knife flat and pull the strap "through" the knife, just like filleting fish. It takes seconds and comes off very clean.

I've tried similar techniques and left more meat on the sinew than I liked, but I've never tried it exactly as you say. I sure hate to give up any of the meat, those backstraps make such nice bbq steaks.

Something to try next fall, thanks.


Mark

[DC]

I prefer at least 12-14" back strap pieces

This seems an appropriate time to ask about actually getting the sinew off the meat. Is there a good tutorial on this? I have cut up my share of deer and that sinew fights tooth and nail when trying to get it cleanly off the backstrap meat.

DC, if you want to keep this to just the length issues let me know and I will start a new thread for my sinew questions.


Mark

No problem

[PatM]

I use pretty much all of it.  Even the little short pieces will blend into the matrix.  For every short joint in the backing there's probably about 50 intact strands spanning the weak spot.  It all averages out.

 I put sinew on in neither individual strands, nor bundles.  I use about three to five at a time and then use the short pieces as gap fillers.  After I wrap it and heat it it all gets mashed into a homogenous layer.

[Eric Garza]

How long is a short piece?

4-5 inches is what I would call short. Backing with sinew bundles of this size will take much longer than using longer pieces, but the backing will still hold. I have never had a backing fail because I used short pieces of sinew.