Rawhide over sinew

[Gote]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the board and new to bow making as well so I have some questions.   I've made a 54" birch bow with sinew backing and was wondering what your thoughts were on putting rawhide over the sinew?   My primary reason is for waterproofing and a clean finished look.   Is this a good or bad idea?  I've heard the odd mention of it being done but haven't been able to find much on it.  Any thoughts?

My other question in regards to finishing is about the various stains, oils,  greases, etc used to seal the wood.  Do any of these have any adverse effects to the  sinew/wood bond?  I was concerned that an oil based sealer might saturate under the sinew and cause it to lift.

Thanks

[Pat B]

Rawhide can be put over sinew but it would not be a good moisture barrier. A few years back I made a copy of Jay Massey's Medicine Bow. It is a sinew backed hickory with a rawhide covering. It is a sweet shooting bow but, depending on the RH at the time it's draw weight can go from 45# to 65#. Even with Massey finish(thinned 2ton epoxy), Tru-Oil and satin poly it is still affected by moisture.


Snake skins help to slow the effects of moisture or even a thin coat of TBIII but it just plain looks ugly.

[bradsmith2010]

i have had good results with painting the sinew bow back and belly with high quality outdoor acrylic paint and then poly over that,, protecting the sinew is good, but when you seal the whole bow it seems to help even more ,,I lived and hunted in texas and Tenn where it was very humid,, and the sinew bows were pretty stable when treated as mentioned,, I also refinished with poly probably once a year,, I have a feeling Pat is right on that the rawhide might attract moisture more than other backings,, snake skin might be a better option,,, or painting over the tight bond might work as well,,,