hickory hole

[trail walker]

So i had a little bug hole on my hickory board stave, i am planing on trying to sinew back this bow with 1 1/2 layers wondering if you guy thin the hole will will hurt it. the hole is at the tip of the pencil in the full picture.

[trail walker]

sorry it is kinda hard to see the bottom one. the hole is like 2 inches above the handle.

[Eric Krewson]

You may get lucky but that is a powder post beetle hole. The last hickory I tried with a few of the those benign looking holes blew up on me.

Here is what the do under the surface of the wood that you can't see;

[trail walker]

well then. . what if i wrapped that area with sinew to. All i need is like 20 inches of draw at 60 lbs. I don't know that that would even makes a difference? I am trying to get proficient with a Native American short draw style, so i don't need tons of length on the draw.

[willie]

can you tell how long the hole is ?  is the bottom pic supposed to show the other end of the hole?

[trail walker]

no there is only one hole, i do not know how deep it goes. i was showing where on the hole was on the bow.

[Hamish]

Use a pin as a depth gauge to see how deep the hole is.

[Pappy]

Like Eric said, the hole isn't a problem, what you can't see very well could be. It is one of them things that if you are willing to take the chance just go for it. For me I am not willing and use it as fire wood. 
 Pappy

[JW_Halverson]

It's perfect just the way it is....for smoking meats.

Those beetles do not always bore straight lines.  Dribbling glue and stuffing a thin plug in the hole might just solv the cosmetics while internally the time bomb tick...tick...ticks away.

How bad do you need this to be a bow?  If it is just another bow, go for it with the understanding that it is likely a failure in the making. If you NEED a bow, you NEED better wood.

[DC]

How about a narrower bow? Just trim away at that edge and see if the hole disappears. If it turns and goes sideways, junk it.

[Eric Krewson]

I found a picture of my hickory bow failure because of powder post beetles. If you look in the middle of the picture you can see segmented bug do-do where the beetle trail turned up the limb.

This was a rather spectacular failure;

[ohma2]

HEED the picture.