how much sinew to back a bow

[Oak Walker]

How many whitetail sinews would a guy need to back a 64 inch osage board bow. I ordered Mikes new dvd from Pine Hollow longbows and he said to weigh the dried sinew and use about two ounces per limb. Just curious about how much sinew you can get from one deer? Thanks

[PatM]

If you really go looking for every tendon you  can get enough from one deer. Nobody seems to get the tendons from the front of the shin bones. Not sure why.

[BowEd]

OK oak walker.I can usually get close to 400 ounces of usable sinew out of an elk tendon.All in all sinew is sinew.No matter where it comes from I think.Weighing it is the proper thing to do when it's ready to be put on.It's all relative here.On a 62" bow being sinewed 2 ounces per limb will be a whole lot.Never done that much.I know half that will do the job,or an ounce per limb.4 ounces is at least 30#'s worth of draw & that's relative too.Don't know how much reflex you want.With that much you need a lot of reflex to make it work for it's money.Need more info to answer your question.

[BowEd]

Sorry I meant 400 grains not ounces....lol.

[PatM]

Not sure if Yancey uses the TB application and landfill process after.  That's going to have an impact on your final results if you go that route.

[bubby]

Yancy does use the tb3 route and sawdust and glue to smooth it out

[PatM]

Might as well just glue a whole snake on the back. lol

[Oak Walker]

Yes I did see that Mike does a TB3 and osage saw dust application to fill low spots then sands it smooth for raw hide or snake. Thanks for any and all info. Been around bows a long time but I am pretty new at making my own. I do plan on snaking  it if it turns out good.

[PatM]

That entirely defeats the purpose of sinew backing from a performance enhancing standpoint. Might as well just use rawhide.

[Oak Walker]

oh o.k. I was under the assumption that snake skins didn't affect the performance at all and was only for aesthetics.  Rawhide should be a little easier I would think. 

[bradsmith2010]

as suggested above,, about 400 grains on each limb should be enough,, you can weigh the deer tendons whole and get an idea how many it will take,, I have weighed the elk tendon whole and then processed it,, and it is close,, you loose a little to waste when you separate it to threads,,
for best performance, you want least sinew to hold the most reflex,,
1 oz is about 420grains,, I guess you could put 2 oz on each limb on a bow that long,, but it does seem like alot,,,

[Oak Walker]

Ok thanks. Maybe I was thinking two ounces total instead of two ounces per limb??

[PEARL DRUMS]

Oak Walker. I highly suggest you just back your bow with rawhide followed by skins, if you want them. Slopping on sinew with titebond 3, back filling it with more glue and saw dust, then covering it in rawhide is a total waste of time and effort. If you want to sinew a bow, do it the right way. Stick around here and you will learn all you need to build the best bows you can.

[bubby]

oh o.k. I was under the assumption that snake skins didn't affect the performance at all and was only for aesthetics.  Rawhide should be a little easier I would think. 



Skins don't unless it's maybe pyton or a really thick skinned snake, i think the use a snake was sarcasm,

[PatM]

oh o.k. I was under the assumption that snake skins didn't affect the performance at all and was only for aesthetics.  Rawhide should be a little easier I would think. 



Skins don't unless it's maybe pyton or a really thick skinned snake, i think the use a snake was sarcasm,