Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Jodocus on December 16, 2013, 05:04:21 am

Title: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: Jodocus on December 16, 2013, 05:04:21 am
This lever bow, wide and long, broke around 70# and 24" draw while I was exercising it. Actually, I think I know why, I didn't trust it all along. But it was almost there, a bit stiff in the inner limbs still. And I liked it, too.

It was probably too dry. I had the option to keep it in the workshop where it's frozen, or inside in the heated house. Chose inside, might have been a mistake. Second, the wood (sugar maple) was questionable. A bit of rot and bugbite here and there. And this knot wasn't making it better, either.

It really made a loud bang, but I myself got away  ;D
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: burchett.donald on December 16, 2013, 05:34:20 am
Glad you didn't get nocked in the noggin... Sounds like you were almost there...
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: Del the cat on December 16, 2013, 09:44:50 am
Yeah, but it's a very high quality break >:D ::)
I'll bet she went with bang...
Del
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: adb on December 16, 2013, 10:34:31 am
She'll always break your heart right at the end!  :o
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: Pappy on December 16, 2013, 10:43:11 am
Hate it when that happens,looks like dry rot or 2 dry to me. I am with Del,bet that made a noise and had you scrambling for cover.. ;) :)
   Pappy
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: Jodocus on December 16, 2013, 11:10:13 am
...it's a very high quality break

 :laugh:

It's the very first time I actually broke a bow. I was real lucky. I was pulling it in my hand. The lever was still fat and heavy and missed me by only little. My wife came over to the workshop and see what the noise was about.

She looked at it for a second and said the wood must have been too dry  ;D
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: Don Case on December 16, 2013, 01:23:54 pm
That's to bad, but a least there is no gory pictures ;D. Is the top picture the belly and the bottom the back? If the top is the belly, is that a big chrysal I see on either side of the break? Would that be the cause, the belly collapsed? I'm pretty sure I'm going to be seeing a few of these. It might help to be able to diagnose the cause.
Thanks
Don
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: lostarrow on December 16, 2013, 03:41:26 pm
Those black streaks on the back are "spalt"  . Your wood had started to break down by means of bacteria. When you dry the wood and the bacteria dries , it turns black  (blue  on pine) .I don't think you had a chance my friend. Glad you weren't hurt.
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: sleek on December 16, 2013, 04:22:22 pm
Oh wow, good eye lostarrow. That is spalted for sure. Jodocus, you were doomed before you started. That wood was rotten. Now you ought not feel so bad cause it werent your fault :)
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: Gordon on December 16, 2013, 04:53:47 pm
That looks like a compression failure to me.
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: Jodocus on December 16, 2013, 05:43:04 pm
I had noticed the rot when I started. It was an old plank, real old. But I had been hoping to get away with it. Doh!
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: Joec123able on December 16, 2013, 06:08:45 pm
That's to bad, but a least there is no gory pictures ;D. Is the top picture the belly and the bottom the back? If the top is the belly, is that a big chrysal I see on either side of the break? Would that be the cause, the belly collapsed? I'm pretty sure I'm going to be seeing a few of these. It might help to be able to diagnose the cause.
Thanks
Don


 Of Course it Chrysaled ..... When it broke !
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: bow101 on December 16, 2013, 06:57:08 pm
As long as it did not break your noggin, build another and another,  more will break, more will break your heart and your love of woodworking, latlely I have not touched a peice of wood in the last 3 monnths..
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: Badly Bent on December 16, 2013, 08:32:19 pm
Been there more times than I care to admit. :(
Title: Re: Oh no! I broke it!
Post by: mikekeswick on December 17, 2013, 04:32:36 am
These are the ones that you learn from!
Yes a very high quality break    ;) ;) ;)