Small cracks. Anything to worry about?

[WillieB]

Quick question.  This is my second bow I have ever made so I’m not sure if this is an issue or not.  There are some small cracks in the belly of the my bow.  It appears to be the finish but I’m not 100% and thought I would ask.  It’s Finished with about 5 or 6 coats of Tru-oil(so I may have went over board).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[DC]

The little white lines? Possibly chrysals depending on the finish you used. If you used a hard brittle finish it could just be cracks in that. Otherwise it's chrysals (compression fractures) Do a search on chrysals.

[Weylin]

Those absolutely look like chrysals aka compression fractures or frets. They are caused by either too high of a moisture content, poor design choices or poor tillering. If they are concentrated in one area it's probably a tillering issue if they are spread out then it's likely one of the other two reasons or a combination. It's a bad sign. it means the wood is not holding up under compression and those are spots where the wood is giving up and folding in on itself. There's not much you can do about it really. best to try and learn why it happened and avoid it on your next bow.

[Pat B]

+2 what Weylin said.

[Eric Krewson]

If you are lucky they are just scratches in the finish, scrape off the finish and put a little water on the area then you will know.

[WillieB]

So does this mean that the bow is going to fail?  Is it something that could just stay the way it is or is it just going to go downhill fast?  Retillering the bow work?  Right now it's 52lbs at 28" so I definitely have room to bring it down.

[Gordon]

Those look like compression fractures to me. If they are, they will eventually lead to a limb failure.

[Eric Krewson]

I have a friend who sets up an archery exhibit at the local SCA Renaissance Faire, he has a bunch of red oak ELBs he lets people shoot. These bows are about 6' long, low poundage and are chrysled from end to end, thousands of people have shot them. I asked him if he thought they would fail, he said they had been like that for years.

Your bow may shoot for a long time before it gives up the ghost.

[PatM]

Chrysals for sure.  Compression damage to just the finish runs straight across.

  I'm not of the opinion that chrysals  mean a bow is more likely to break.

[rps3]

Anybody who has been on this sight for a while has seen this question a million times. I like Eric and PatM thoughts. I cant remember ever seeing a bow that bit the dust due to chrysalls...not saying it hasnt happened, but I think most of us, once realizing we made a mistake, make another better bow and dont shoot the chrysalled bows to find out how long they hold up.