rawhide help..

[BamaHunter01]

Glued up some rawhide on my hickory flatbow with titebond 3 let dry for 2 days checked it and they just peeled right off i coated the back with glue let dry so the wood wouldnt soak it all up guess it didnt work anyone have any suggestions??

[Newindian]

TB doesn't adhere to its self well, if you let a layer of it dry on a gluing surface before gluing it on that may be your problem

[BamaHunter01]

That might be it guess I could sand it and try again

[autologus]

If you are going to size the back don't let it dry completely glue down when it is tacky.

Grady

[RBLusthaus]

how did you clamp the hide down?  What I mean is, sometimes I use that shrink wrap stuff, or rubber inner tube strips, ya know, wrap it around and around, but since it is plastic or rubber, the glue does not dry very quickly under it (if at all) since TB needs the air to cure, so I take the plastic off after about 3 hours or so, and then dont touch for a few days.  I assume the hide you were using was soft and somewhat damp when you glued it down?

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

I put rawhide on my first bow the other day. I let it soak in warm water for about 30 minutes. Scraped off any slim from the back side of it and then placed that side against the bow. First put a layer of glue on the bow to size it... I think I did two coats but added a little water to it so that it would soak into the wood. Then I sized up the rawhide cutting off some of the over hanging section. I then spread glue on the back of the rawhide, put it onto the limb and wrapped it really tightly with ace bandages. This way the ace bandage would let the moisture come out but still hold firmly. I only left the ace bandage on for about 3 hours. Just be careful to cut the rawhide close to the size you want it for the limb. I let it overhang a little too much and it was a pain in the but to file and sand it off the sides... plus it was stinky.

Maybe that will give you insight to putting it on. It came out really nicely this way for me and i had no air bubbles and its still holding firm after about 500 shots.

Justin

[RussB]

I put rawhide on my first bow the other day. I let it soak in warm water for about 30 minutes. Scraped off any slim from the back side of it and then placed that side against the bow. First put a layer of glue on the bow to size it... I think I did two coats but added a little water to it so that it would soak into the wood. Then I sized up the rawhide cutting off some of the over hanging section. I then spread glue on the back of the rawhide, put it onto the limb and wrapped it really tightly with ace bandages. This way the ace bandage would let the moisture come out but still hold firmly. I only left the ace bandage on for about 3 hours. Just be careful to cut the rawhide close to the size you want it for the limb. I let it overhang a little too much and it was a pain in the but to file and sand it off the sides... plus it was stinky.

Maybe that will give you insight to putting it on. It came out really nicely this way for me and i had no air bubbles and its still holding firm after about 500 shots.

Justin

Justin, you said you let it "soak in warm water for about 30 minutes, then scraped off the slime, or whatever"....did you wrap it wet?
Or, was there a drying time after you removed the goop from the leather?

I'm a long time lurker....but I do sit in the front row.
That's me over there with the paper & pencil.

Russ..

[ssgtchad]

Just finished a raw hide glue up. I used unflavored gelatin that a bought at my local grocery store for .99. Its hide glue. It bonds with raw hide and shrinks as it drys pulling the hide tighter to the bow. Good stuff and its CHEAP!

[Cameroo]

Just finished a raw hide glue up. I used unflavored gelatin that a bought at my local grocery store for .99. Its hide glue. It bonds with raw hide and shrinks as it drys pulling the hide tighter to the bow. Good stuff and its CHEAP!

I might have to try that next time.  I use TB3 all the time but I had a similar failure on the last one I did.  I was cleaning up the edges after glue-up and noticed a part lifting.  Gave it a tug and the whole strip came loose.  I bought some Knox a long time ago but have yet to try it.

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

I just lightly dabbed a towel on the rawhide to lift of the extra water. It was still wet but not on the surface. The warm water just made it pliable. Hope that helps... I wrapped the snot out of it too with the ace bandages... may need a second set of hands to help you out with that... I know I did.