bamboo splintered and lifted. HELP!

[mole]

Howdy folks.  I was rather proud of this black bamboo/ipe bow.  69" nock to nock, 75# @ 29".  1/2" perry reflex glued in.  Just unbraced set of 5/8" top limb and 1/4" bottom limb (uneven reflex to begin with).  1" at the handle tapering to 3/8" tips.  Rounded belly.

I shot this bow a few dozen times and the glued on handle cracked.  I removed the handle and glue on another one.  I put the bow back on the tiller tree to check it.  I pulled several times and then I hear a loud metallic sounding pop.  All pictures where taken immediately after and while the bow was still braced. Here's the problem:







Can I try to glue this back down with TitebondIII and then wrap the two ends with sinew or should I put it aside for future rebacking?  I'm a bit depressed about this one.  It was most likely going to be my hunting bow.

Thanks,
John

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

Yep, glue it back together (superglue will do to ) wrap it ( you can do cotton , linen or silk wrappings too) and you should be allrigth,...check for other possible splinters with some steelwool

[Ryano]

You can try super glue and wrapping it but thats not  permanent....only a temporary fix. Ive seen this several times on bamboo backed bows and the tiller usually is affected by the splinter even after you fix it. It usually causes a weak spot.

[Eric Krewson]

A sinew wrap will fix anything. I use urac and find it bullet proof for fixes. For your bow I would glue the splinter back in place with urac and put a good sinew wrap around the splintered area. I fixed the following bow that way. It was broken almost in half with the cracked area over 8" long and all the way up under the handle. I used sinew soaked in Elmer's water proof glue. after the fix I tried every way I could think of to break this bow before I gave it back to a friend who brought it to me, couldn't break it. The sinew is in two layers, one running with the limb and one layer wrapped around the limb. The crack is on the belly.

[adb]

Superglue would probably work, but for the reason you've shown, I don't use bamboo anymore as backing material. I live in a very dry climate, and hickory is much better. As Ryano mentioned, the bow will unfortunately never be the same. The splinter is a weak spot.

[mole]

Thanks for the advice so far guys.  Should I wrap just the ends or the whole thing?  The splinter runs from node to node, so it's over a foot long.

Thanks,
John

[Rich Saffold]

John, I woudn't worry too much.. If the handle popped off then the limbs are bending through that section and you need to re-tiller a bit..That splinter doesn't look deep enough to cause a problem.. Your bow was still braced so obviously it didn't affect its shape enough to change this did it?

I'd either superglue it, or use tb3 and do a few wrap sections  with a very thin thread. Silk is my preference. I'd actually re-tiller the bow a bit first to get it bending outside the grip before wrapping the splinter.

Also rigid grips and rounded bellies can make the tiller want to go through the grip..Maybe you have enough to leave the grip off and let it flex at full draw..Thats what I would do...

Rich-

[mullet]

  I'd leave the handle off and build it up with leather instead.That way if it bends the handle will move too. I do have to disagree about fixing it though. I think it will be just temporary and ugly too. I'd remove and back it again, keep you from worrying everytime a motorcycle backfired.

[Eric Krewson]

Granted sinew wraps are not the prettiest but they add character to a old bow. Done right they are a permanent fix, I have done a bunch of them, no failures so far.

Even though I make a lot of bows I usually have only for one bow for myself. I hate to part with an old friend. I made me a new bow lately, first one in 5 years. Here is old faithful, my partner for the last 5 years. It has ugly sinew wraps on both limbs (stress cracks developed on the back), has launched at least 100k arrows, half of those with the wraps, and still shoots as good as the day I made it.

[Eric Krewson]

When this one failed on the tillering tree new bamboo was a must.



New bamboo and lots of urac. This bow is still shooting 5 years later and on it's 2nd owner.

[Badger]

   Eric, it looked like you had sanded down your node quite a bit. I got to where I just leave mine natural. Seems like some of them do fine sanded but I always feel like I have a timebomb with sanded nodes. Steve

[Rich Saffold]

The giant yellow timber bamboos are the only ones I'll touch with sandpaper, and only when the bamboo is thick as well as the nodes.

It's very easy to over dry bamboo stored in houses/rooms where the heaters are running. Wintertime in the colder regions of our country its easy to find mc%es too low, and bamboo doesn't recover like wood can..To often the bamboo  quality is blamed when unknowingly was too dry..

Rich

[Eric Krewson]

When I sand nodes I only go far enough to smooth out the crease in the node and usually leave just a little of it.  The replacement bamboo is local giant timber bamboo. I think leaving the nodes untouched is a good idea.

I seldom have a node failure but have had all kinds of strange failures between the nodes when I was using Franks bamboo. I have several BBOS out there with Wingnut's bamboo, it seems to be doing OK.

I stored the piece in the second picture in a damp basement while my shop was being built. It had mold on it when I dug it out to use. I thought" I can put this in my drying box for a week or so and it will be just fine". I knew better, but used it anyway for a give away bow. It barely made it past floor tillering.