when is sinew worth the effort,,

[bradsmith2010]

   I think there was a discussion on this a while back,
I was thinking about it,,about the best example I could think of is when you have a piece of wood or stave that will not make a bow,,,
say a belly split thats has a violated back and not enough wood to get to one ring,,,so useless as a self bow,,or any bow,,
with a sinew back it can become a hard hitting deer killer,, then its worth the effort,, I could go on,,but that seems to be one of the best examples in my mind of when sinew is really a great way to make a bow,,
   I use it on shorter bows,, cause I like the way its holds a profile,, and the performance,, but really nice short bows can be made without,,I just like the way they shoot,,,
   

[bassman211]

When I think all else will fail as a back, and on some short bows on purpose from the beginning of the build. I prefer self bows really, but have nothing against a good sinew backed bow. Look at the bows the Turks built long ago. Sinew was a crucial ingredient, and on most Asian horse bows remains that way today.

[sleek]

When the stave won't handle the design without sinew.

[WhistlingBadger]

When you live in an area where all the native bow-woods are strong in compression but weak in tension, thus prone to explode and inconvenient moments.   

[aznboi3644]

When I can get enough sinew to back a bow with lol.  I’m not paying crazy prices for sinew.  I am a cheap skate.

[bownarra]

It always worth the effort .......once you understand it

[BowEd]

It always worth the effort .......once you understand it

+1.

[Pat B]

To me a sinew backed bow is a speciality bow and not just making a lesser stave work. I try to pick the best stave available to me and design the sinew backed bow around that. I haven't made all that many sinew bows but I've learned something from each one I've made. My first successful sinew backed bow turned out to be a failure in the long run but is still alive and doing well as a selfbow. Her name is Elkie.   I built Elkie for my first Colorado elk hunt back in 2006 and wrote a PA article about her being built and going on the hunt("The Story of Elkie", PA Magazine in 2007). While I was demonstrating Elkie to the class of a school teacher friend the sinew on one limb partially popped off. That's a pretty sorry feeling at full draw.   I repaired the lifted sinew on Elkie with TBIII and the repair held up for that hunt. I gave Elkie to Kenneth(Little John) as a thank you for the invitation to Colorado for the hunt. Later she lifted more sinew so Kenneth sent her back to me and I removed the sinew and Elkie became a selfbow. Kenneth still has Elkie and he still shoots her on a regular basis. BTW, the stave, the sinew, the snakeskin backing, the elk tip overlays and other aspects of Elkie were donations from members of PA for this special hunt and I took that Medicine with me to the high country of the San Juan Mountains of Southwest Colorado. Unfortunately, no one notified the elk I was coming.
 After my experience with Elkie, I changed my way of preparing a bow to add sinew and other soft backings and since then I haven't had the problem of sinew or other soft backings not adhering again.

[WhistlingBadger]

To me a sinew backed bow is a speciality bow and not just making a lesser stave work. I try to pick the best stave available to me and design the sinew backed bow around that. I haven't made all that many sinew bows but I've learned something from each one I've made. My first successful sinew backed bow turned out to be a failure in the long run but is still alive and doing well as a selfbow. Her name is Elkie.   I built Elkie for my first Colorado elk hunt back in 2006 and wrote a PA article about her being built and going on the hunt("The Story of Elkie", PA Magazine in 2007). While I was demonstrating Elkie to the class of a school teacher friend the sinew on one limb partially popped off. That's a pretty sorry feeling at full draw.   I repaired the lifted sinew on Elkie with TBIII and the repair held up for that hunt. I gave Elkie to Kenneth(Little John) as a thank you for the invitation to Colorado for the hunt. Later she lifted more sinew so Kenneth sent her back to me and I removed the sinew and Elkie became a selfbow. Kenneth still has Elkie and he still shoots her on a regular basis. BTW, the stave, the sinew, the snakeskin backing, the elk tip overlays and other aspects of Elkie were donations from members of PA for this special hunt and I took that Medicine with me to the high country of the San Juan Mountains of Southwest Colorado. Unfortunately, no one notified the elk I was coming.
 After my experience with Elkie, I changed my way of preparing a bow to add sinew and other soft backings and since then I haven't had the problem of sinew or other soft backings not adhering again.

What did you change to prep the back?  Also, what kind of wood is Elkie?

[Pat B]

Elkie is osage. Initially I used acetone to degrease wood before adding backings. Now I sand the back with 120 sandpaper, wash it with Dawn and warm water and rinse with boiling water just before I'm ready to start sizing and adding the sinew. I like having the wood wet when I start sizing so the glue is better absorbed into the wood.

[bradsmith2010]

ok here is another example, when you want to make a bow like Jay Massey and kill a moose,,

[Pat B]

Like this one Brad...





 
This supposed Jay Massey bow was given to me with the stipulation that if I die first my friend gets it back.    It looks very much like one of Jay's bows but I have no real proof. No signature or other identifying markings except with halibut skin over the sinew.

[bradsmith2010]

thats so cool thank you for sharing,,

[Pat B]

Did you notice the cracks in the belly that the drying sinew caused?
 This is my copy of of Jay's Medicine Bow, sinew backed hickory with a painted rawhide backing. This is another bow that was made with items from other people. I've listed the contributors names on the belly and what they contributed. I also offered the use of the bow to any of the contributors and two of them took game with it; a doe deer with a horseweed, stone pointed arrow by Jamie Leffler and a Florida turkey by Mullet.

[bradsmith2010]

thats  a beautiful, can you post specs, I want to make one next,,
what glue did you use etc,,