My old locust bow...RIP

[Pat B]

Thanks, Simon. This has been a fun project. It actually got me looking through my bow collection and reminiscing over some of my old favorites.
 Hope you and yours fared well the flooding there in Germany and surrounding countries. 

[Yooper Bowyer]

I thought you have to wrap the rawhide with gauze to keep it from warping off.

[Pat B]

The nice thing about using hide glue for rawhide, sinew and snake skins is as it gels it actually sucks the rawhide to the sinew backing so it doesn't necessarily need to be wrapped. As the hide glue is gelling I use my thumb to squeeze out and air pockets, keep the hide centered on the limb and press it into the glue. After a few minutes it starts sucking the rawhide to the sinew.
 In some circumstances like with sinew backing I do use a wrap to help smooth out the sinew surface but I remove it once the hide glue has gelled sufficiently to hold it's own. This only takes an hour or two, depending on the local humidity.

[GlisGlis]

Very nice thread. there's a bunch of useful informations. thanks for sharing 

[BowEd]

Hello Pat....
Just trying to help out here.On the #52 post the left limb just outside mid limb towards the tips has a slight stiff area.Reason it looks bending too much from the fade on that limb.That might be your bottom limb too for positive tiller.
Also I believe technically after sinewing a person lets it gell first and then wraps it and reheats it [ i use a hair dryer]  to smooth out the sinew job.
Looks pretty good though.Good luck.

[Pat B]

Thanks for your input, Ed. I have worked on that area trying to get the bend in closer to the fade. I'll check it out again and do what needs doing. She can still afford to loose a few pounds anyway.

 After a few days in the dehydrated basement the rawhide and sinew are very dry so I opted to take her off the form and trim her up. I first used the smoother side of a farriers rasp to rasp off the excess rawhide from the edges and around the sides of the fades...


...then trimmed it up with a very sharp razor...


..and then sand paper to smooth even more...


...and here she is all cleaned up and ready for some decorations...


...more to come...

[BowEd]

Pat....
Your fades are fine.It's midlimb out 6 to 8 inch section on the left limb from picture on #52 posting.It's very close though.Right limb looks fine.
Oh by the way I read it's your birthday.Congrats!!!

[Pat B]

Ed, that might be an optical illusion blending with the block wall. I will check that area out though. Thanks

[Pat B]

And now for the handle wrap. I first put down a few coats of Tru-Oil to seal the handle area under the wrap and let them dry over night. I've used these hemp cord handle wraps for a few years now. Generally it is one color but for this bow I opted to use the 2 colors, dark brown and tan. I've used this 2 color wrap only one other time on a boo backed bow I made last year and really liked the effect.
 To start I lay the tag ends on the handle and begin wrapping over that making sure to pull it tight as I go as I keep the strands separated...


...once I get near the other end I lay a loop on the handle and wrap the cords over it to the end...

...then pull the loop back under the handle wrap pulling the tag ends through. Be sure you pull both tags tight...




...and trim off the tags between the wrap strands...


...finally I singe the "hairs" off of the hemp cord to help smooth out the wrap...

[Pat B]

...and now to seal the cord handle wrap. I use Massey finish, 2 ton epoxy thinned with acetone and for an applicator I roll up a paper towel and bind it with a rubber band. I don't use a recipe for the Massey finish but mix it to a watery consistency...


I saturate the applicator in Massey finish and daub it on the handle wrap making sure the wrap is totally saturated...

...and now to wait for the epoxy to cure. After it has cured I use sandpaper to smooth out any rough areas that might irritate the hand.
You may have caught a preview of part of the decorations I added to the bow's rawhide back yesterday. I'll post pics of the finished product a bit later.

[Pat B]

Well, these will be the last pics of this bow. Ed had pointed out a spot that was a bit stiff so I pinpointed that area and did a bit of scraping but alas the frets came back. Not where I did the scraping but where the original frets were on the other limb. Anyway I resealed the newly scraped areas with Tru-Oil to seal the bow but she will be a wall hanger now.
 Here are the last pics of her after she got all dressed up. Even though she didn't work out the way I planned I at least hope others got info to help them build and decorate bows. If I help one person then she is not a failure. 






...RIP...!   

[bradsmith2010]

beautiful bow, thanks for sharing,,  love the art work,,

[BowEd]

So the frets were on the right limb according to post #52?
I've tried myself redoing a couple of bows that had chrysalls or frets.A maple and a black locust maybe 10 years ago.Sanded them completely gone but keeping it in tiller with the rest of the limbs too.Applied belly lamination to keep the same draw weight.Retillered.Over time of less than 1000 shots the chrysalls returned,Not on the lamination but under on the main core again.I could see them on the edge.
It seems sometimes those chrysalls might do damage deeper than one knows.I sure was hoping yours would turn out different.
Top view profile of that bow is I think just right for a black locust flat bow.
Wood is wood as they say.Grab a better piece and move on.
Like the handle regime and the lightning bolt.

[Pat B]

Yeah, it was a bummer but not totally unexpected. And I agree, Ed, those old frets probably go deeper than we can see. Well, I wondered and now I know.
 One thing this bow accomplished is it got my juices flowing again. I've got another design in mind. Similar to Superdav95's modified molle  but backed with the moose sinew a bowyer and friend in Norway sent me.

[BowEd]

You lucky fella.