Chrisalis forming on bows belly

[Puckaway]

I've finished my knotty hickory bow project that I've been working on for some time. The limbs were difficult to tiller due to 3 very pronounced knots on the limbs and one large one at the start of the fade on the upper limb. I shot the bow a few times and checked for damage, which I found nothing so I went ahead and finished it with dark walnut minwax stain. The next day I put on a coat of true oil. Today I made up a proper string for it and strung her up. The brace was a bit higher than the tillering string I shot with before. It measured 7 1/2" as opposed to around 7ish before but I figured It would stretch after a bit. I shot a couple arrows and it seemed to be shooting good. I looked the bow over in the sunlight and noticed what looks like little hairline cracks in the finnish right off the fade on the top limb. They seem to run at opposite angles to each other and there is a cluster of them over the first couple of inches of the limb. At first I thought they were rasp marks since You really notice those little things when you put a stain on. Anything I can do about this or should I just shoot it until it blows up on me?I plan to post some pictues tomorrow.

[bubbles]

Sounds like chrysals to me.... If you look at a F/d pic you may see a hinge starting. Basically, The bow was overstressed there and is failing in compression.  You'll find various opinions on what to do...some say patch, others say firewood, and others may just say shoot until it dies. I'm sure others will chime in with advice.  Its always sad when you've put all that work in and those little buggers show up.

[Del the cat]

+1
My heart sinks and it feels like I've been punched in the gut when I see chrysals.
They can turn up after months of use... 
I try to tell myself they are tool marks or scratches, but I know the truth. The real confirmation is when you can feel 'em if you run your fingernail over 'em. Dunno why but they always run diagonal aross the belly.
They go surprisingly deep too 4mm or so.
Turn it into an experimental bow and have a play with different things like sticking on a new belly or whatever takes your fancy...
Turn it into a boomerang
You have my sympathy... it always happens when the damn bow is finished too
I hate 'em with a passion.
Del

[bradsmith2010]

you might try re tiller to make less strain on that part of the bow,,

[George Tsoukalas]

Leave that area alone and remove above it to relieve the area which is bending too much on relation to the rest of the limb. Retiller the other limb accorfdingly. Jawge

[PEARL DRUMS]

There are times when your bow can be bending nicely from fade to tip, but for a multitude of other reasons a fret forms all the same. In that case just do as the guys suggested, take wood away above that spot to alleviate strain. Sometimes the bow is too narrow or too short for the draw weight and they form no matter the tiller. 

[Joec123able]

Chriysals suck ! But my opinion is the bow is trash after chriysals form because if I make a bow I want it to be a bow I can count on after years of use to hold up every time I string it and chrysals are a bad sign that even if fixed would ruin my confidence in a bow

[bradsmith2010]

there are examples of bows with crysals that have long lives when re tillered,, I have a black locust, crysal at the fade,, that was about 20 years ago,, it still has no set, and I shot it in many tournaments , I did it  when I first braced the bow,, but as I evened the tiller,, it did not get any worse, and is still a bow today,,,, a friend of mine crysaled his first bow,, but evened the tiller ,, he is still shooting it after 2 years,,, I think it really depends on how bad they are and if the tiller has been corrected,,sometimes the damage is to sever or not enough wood left to correct the tiller,,

[Danzn Bar]

There are times when your bow can be bending nicely from fade to tip, but for a multitude of other reasons a fret forms all the same. In that case just do as the guys suggested, take wood away above that spot to alleviate strain. Sometimes the bow is too narrow or too short for the draw weight and they form no matter the tiller. 

I had the same thing happen to me with a short hickory (see pics) frets showed (at the fades) up after about 300 shots and failed after about 200 shots...  
Live and learn...I'm still not real sure what happened except that I think it was too short for a hickory non bending handle bow.  But it was a real screamer until it blew. 
DBar

[GB]

Having chrysals form on an otherwise well planned and tillered bow is the absolute pits.   I made a hickory backed elm bow from boards last winter that I really liked only to have it chrysal just in one spot about 10" from the tip on the top limb.  I was in despair because it was such snappy and steady shooter.  A couple of weeks ago I cut the handle off, ground down the elm belly and glued an osage lam to it.  After tillering, it's the same snappy shooter, holds 1 3/4" of reflex, and I'm a happy camper again.  Hope you figure out a fix for yours.