Sinew

[WhistlingBadger]

OK, you guys have been holding out on me.  Sinew is fun stuff!  Nature's duct tape.

I've been pounding up a bunch of buffalo tendons.  It's quite a bit of work, but kind of relaxing and rather therapeutic.  Long-term beating the daylights out of something after a hard day at work?  Sign me up.  And wow, it's actually fun to work with!  I'm mostly going to be backing bows with it, but I've done a couple arrow fletches just for fun.  I love that I can just pop a string in my mouth, get it wet, wrap it around, and it stick to itself with no need for a knot.  (I've always reinforced self-nocks and tied on fletchings with silk thread, and tying it in place is by far the most time consuming part)

I also used a strand to stick together a broken arrow, again just for fun.  Then I broke it again to see what would happen.  The wood alongside the sinew broke, but the sinew didn't budge.  This is some stout stuff!  Fun to work with too.  Can't wait to get some on a bow back.

[Pat B]

Sinew is the best for arrow wraps for the reasons you mentioned. Your saliva and the sinew makes its own glue. All I do after it dries well is seal it with pitch varnish(pitch dissolved in alcohol). It only takes a few minutes for the alcohol to evaporate leaving a smooth waterproof seal.

[chamookman]

After Chewing and applying, when dry I cheat Pat. A quick coat of Tite Bond II waterproofs it well . Bob

[bjrogg]

I use it for lots of stuff. Even on the farm. It also shrinks down and gets really good and tight. Keep it dry and it’s very impressive what it can hold together.

Bjrogg

[BowEd]

Try using it sewing brain tan sometime too.No need for a knot.You can cut through a sewing line and it does'nt unravel.
I do use a no. 10 sharps needle though.Kind of cheating.
Just keep the length moist now and then while sewing and it'll suck the leather seam up tight when it dries.
I like using back strap sinew for this.

[Pappy]

Yep great stuff, I keep a strip of back strap sinew in my tool box all the time, use it for all sorts of projects, I save all I can get , it don’t go bad and got to come off back strap anyway to make it fit to eat, don’t save much leg sinew but it’s great also, just shorter. 😉 Pappy

[BowEd]

OK, you guys have been holding out on me.  Sinew is fun stuff!  Nature's duct tape.

I've been pounding up a bunch of buffalo tendons.  It's quite a bit of work, but kind of relaxing and rather therapeutic.  Long-term beating the daylights out of something after a hard day at work?  Sign me up.  And wow, it's actually fun to work with!  I'm mostly going to be backing bows with it, but I've done a couple arrow fletches just for fun.  I love that I can just pop a string in my mouth, get it wet, wrap it around, and it stick to itself with no need for a knot.  (I've always reinforced self-nocks and tied on fletchings with silk thread, and tying it in place is by far the most time consuming part)

I also used a strand to stick together a broken arrow, again just for fun.  Then I broke it again to see what would happen.  The wood alongside the sinew broke, but the sinew didn't budge.  This is some stout stuff!  Fun to work with too.  Can't wait to get some on a bow back.

I would call sinew as mother natures FG myself as it's very tough resilient stuff.
Just like bamboo arrow shafts are mother natures carbon arrow shafts.

[WhistlingBadger]

Just got the word from the ranch:  Their processor saved the back sinew from two adult bison for me.  They're going to charge me $20 for the lot.  Um, I think I can handle that, yeah.   

[BowEd]

Good deal.You can get close to 30" long strands from them.
I finished up a bow a while ago last fall and for the third course I used 225 grains worth that was 28" long.

[WhistlingBadger]

OK, question:  I cleaned it up as well as I could, but this was a fat buf and the dried sinew is a bit greasy, enough to leave a sheen on my fingers when I wipe them across.  I'm assuming I need to degrease this stuff.  What's the best way?  Scrub with ashes?  Rinse in soapy water?

[Pat B]

I use Dawn dish soap with warm, not hot water then lay them flat on wax paper to dry unless you plan to use it right away then just use it after washing.

[BowEd]

Yep that way will always work.It's ok to use warm water to clean it.As long as the water is'nt above 115 to 120 degrees F.

[WhistlingBadger]

OK, thanks, guys.