Well.... unfortunately this little bow has met its end. I decided to try some shots across the chrono earlier, something I have told myself not to do, but I couldn't resist. I had some 550-600gr arrows. First shot was a touch over 100fps, but I didn't think I'd pulled it to its full draw, so sent another across, making sure to get to 16in. Speed was 115-120 for the next few shots, then suddenly I was seeing high 130s for about 4 shots before... bang! The bow came apart right in the middle of my hand at full draw!
So... here's some thoughts I have. First, I had already put a few hundred arrows through this one without issue, but was always short drawing and pretty sure I never exceeded the 16in draw it was tillered to. My sudden high numbers on the chrony are a likely indication that I was drawing this little thing a bit too far. Seeing where the break happened I am suspicious that I had a little too much bend in my handle and that coupled with a narrower handle section and over drawing the bow ultimately led to its demise! I'm also suspicious that the tb3 may not be as good as hide glue for this backing. I'm not sure if the tb3 allowed the sisal to stretch like it should, but not sure.
Here's a shot of the carnage. Any other thoughts on why this one failed? This has only motivated me more. After some choice words, I grabbed 2 3ft boards I had and cut out 2 more blanks to try this again! Maybe one of those will end better!