Hackberry recurve problem

[courerdubois]

Hi all,
I wanted to make a recurve, and had some hackberry about. I heat treated it and sinew backed it. Then I put it on the tillering stick and well take a look...




I'm not too sure how to continue at this point. I am assuming that I hosed up real bad on the recurve part of the process 

Anyone want to give a newbie a hand?

Thanks in advance,

CDB

[PEARL DRUMS]

Make the left look the same as the right and call it a lesson.

[Pat B]

A few questions first, Dubois. Do you have a good back ring on the bow? ...or is that why you sinewed it?  How long after you added the sinew did you stress it?...was the wood/sinew/glue still uncured and wet? Did you tiller the stave out to a certain point before adding the sinew? If so, how was the tiller?
  Lets go with these questions first. We'll get you fixed up. 

[bow101]

I would rip off the sinew and back the right limb with some more "hack-b" or make the left look the same and give the bow to your little one, maybe that's why he looks so pleased...lol..

[bubby]

Make the left look the same as the right and call it a lesson.

x2

[SLIMBOB]

+ 3.  You got a 20# hinge, so you got a 20# bow, if you even them up.

[sleek]

Now hold on guys.... its far from over here. First, I wanna here the answers to Pats questions.  IF there are no other complications here I would treat the bow like this.

Remove sinew, heat treat the one limb bending too much. That will stiffen it up some. Then pike the bow 2 inches on either limb, for a total of 4 inches. Tiller the stiffer limb to match the weaker limb. Put your recurves back in, re-sinew and let it dry a few months. I am willing to bet with all that done in that order, you can have a man weight bow with no problems.

[SLIMBOB]

You could be right Sleek, but I doubt it.  The left limb has barely moved, and the right is bent nearly in half.  I'm a big defender of "let's try and fix it", but this one looks pretty bad.  But hey, no harm in givin' 'er a go.

[bubby]

he's still on the long string sleek, just depends on what he want's to put into it, Bub

[sleek]

You are right Slimbob, but like Bubby said, he is only on the long string. I think it can be fixed.... I really hope he tries, regardless as to the results. You can learn allot about making bows when you are making one that you gadda do some fixin to...

[SLIMBOB]

I'd like to be wrong on this one.  Hate to give up on cpr while there's a chance.

[bubby]

I wouldn't give up on it, there is a lot to learn tillering this bow, first thing get the long string where there aint any slack in it from the get go, the term long string is a bit confusing, it's not super long, just longer than your gonna need to shoot it, Bub

[courerdubois]

A few questions first, Dubois. Do you have a good back ring on the bow? ...or is that why you sinewed it?  How long after you added the sinew did you stress it?...was the wood/sinew/glue still uncured and wet? Did you tiller the stave out to a certain point before adding the sinew? If so, how was the tiller?
  Lets go with these questions first. We'll get you fixed up. 

I sinew backed because I actually like to do it, I guess i'm weird that way. Also on further thought, it seemed light, I have three other hack bow (flatbows) and they seemed heavier. Can't find my moisture gauge, the room got cleaned by 11 and 12 year olds . I waited 3 weeks before putting it on the stick after applying the sinew, I did tiller it a little before sinew, it seemed okay at the time.

[courerdubois]

I would rip off the sinew and back the right limb with some more "hack-b" or make the left look the same and give the bow to your little one, maybe that's why he looks so pleased...lol..

If it isnt workable into a decent bow, I'll finish it up and give it to a friend who has darn little upper body strength; by her admission, she's an academic and not all that strong.

My 11 year old is smiling like that because, if you look behind him, you'll see a flatbow that he made all by himself with no help and just advice from me. Damn I'm proud of him. 

[Pat B]

If the tiller looked good before adding the sinew either you added more sinew to one limb than the other of there is still too much moisture in the stave.
 Sinewng is fine if that is what you want to do.That doesn't make you wierd. You are probably wierd for other reasons.    ...like most of us. 
 For me, I only use sinew on bows that were intended to be sinewed from the get go but these bows are shorty bows so the sinew is effective in increasing the performance of the bow. The sinew/glue combo weighs more, physically than the wood so if you are not getting the full potential from the sinew it is robbing your bow of performance in most cases.
  You should be able to tell about the moisture by the feel of the bow. If it feels snappy and recovers well when drawn then it is probably dry enough to work. But if it feel mushy when you floor tiller and doesn't feel springy them it is probably too wet to stress. I haven't worked hackberry yet but  assume it is similar to other whitewoods.