Rawhide "bandage"???

[Ifrit617]

Hey everyone.... I have an oak bow that some of the grain appears to be lifting up on the back.... I havn't heard any cracks and there has been no loss of performance but I would still like to put a patch on this area to make sure it stays that way...

So now for my question.... It probably seems like a dumb one but can you patch the back of a bow with a small amount of rawhide with out backing the bow using let's say like a 4" Long strip for a 1" long problem section?  Would you just glue it on and call it good or is it really necessary to back the whole limb... Thanks for any help...

Jon

[Elktracker]

Jon I have never done it but I recently saw a Osage sapling bow that John Strunk made and it has allot of knots and stuff on the back there were two knots that had small cracks developing in the knots so he did just What you described cut a patch of rawhide soaked it in water till plyable then wrapped them with serving. Im not sure if he glued them to the back or not? But to answer your question  yes IMO you could patch the back on the problem area, wrap with serving string and im sure it would hold up fine. I could be wrong but if I am someone will correct me.

Josh

[makenzie71]

Use a larger section of raw hide...6" at least.  Then wrap the entire section of rawhide with sinew or thread.

I actually would use a piece of veneer, though, and now hide for such a problem.

[George Tsoukalas]

Sure you can. You can also wrap with thread (dacron, serving thread, art. sinew) set in epoxy, or real sinew set in hide glue. Wrap the other limb too and it will look like a decoration. Jawge

[Ifrit617]

Okay guys...

Jawge that's what I was planning to do,  thanks.

Jon