chrysal fix?

[George Tsoukalas]

upstate, I was not able to see it.

Filing away a weak spot makes it weaker.

I leave knoted areas wider  and typically tiller large knots to appear a little flatter than the rest of the limb.

Jawge

[bradsmith2010]

does look like it might have been bending a bit much there,,
if you have any extra weight,,tillering a bit more to leave that area stiff might help, but as Beadman said ,, it might be ok as is, hard to say,,
I still have a feeling it might have agravated that part of the bow when you heated it to bend it,, hope it works out,,

[Stick Bender]

I had my favorite hunting bow fret on me right before hunting season this year  it had at least  2000 arrows threw it before it showed up , there where a lot of good suggestions here how to fix it but most where last ditch try & see kind so I decided to take my learning lumps switched to my back up & started a new bow , it was areal kick in the gut  but learned a lot from it.

[cantshoot]

Well if you are keeping it for yourself you don't have to pull it to 30" anymore right? I would think that might be a "fix" but I would listen to the real experienced bowyers too

[bubby]

You can sand or file away a cryshal but it will come back you just can't see it at the moment

[Jim Davis]

Posted this earlier, but nobody paid any attention. This was a repair of a void, but the same process works for chrysals.

[scp]

I have done partial belly lam several times. It worked for me probably because I usually make light weight bows around 40 pounds. The main idea IMHO is to leave the problem part a little thicker than other parts.

[gfugal]

I don't inderstand the need to fix it. Yes you want to avoid them and having too many will cause unnessasary set or string follow, but most bows won't break in compression as far as i understand, even if they have a whole bunch. I would think trying to fix it will make it worse. I'd leqve it, and if you really don't trust it make a new bow.

[Weylin]

The bottom limb is definitely working too hard. It may not look that way to you on the tree but drawing it by hand will reveal the true tiller. sometimes the tree doesn't tell the whole truth. I've had that happen to me before. If it were my bow would significantly weaken the top limb to get it bending properly. (I like my top limb bending a hair more than the bottom.) Only then will the bow have a chance to ultimately survive. You have to take the pressure off that spot (especially since you weakened it further by filing away the chrysal. It may still ultimately fail but that's your shot at success, in my opinion. It's going to mean a lower weight bow but having an off tillered chrysalling heavy weight bow wont do your buddy any favors. Good luck! I hope it turns out alright.

[mikekeswick]

I did asharrow
Weylin - agreed.

[upstatenybowyer]

Asharrow, the pic from a different angle makes it much easier to understand. When I saw the first one, it looked like you took a thin slab of the belly. I've never seen a fix like that. Seems like it would work. Thanks for posting.

Weylin, I think a lower weight bow is the way to go. I'll just have to let my brother in law know that his present will have to wait. He deserves a full weight weapon that matches his draw length as he will be using it for hunting.

Thanks to everyone for all your honest and thoughtful input. I've learned a lot. I started work on a sugar maple stave last night with the same basic design, only a little wider. My brother in law and I make maple syrup together, so maybe it was meant to be. 

[Jim Davis]

Asharrow, the pic from a different angle makes it much easier to understand. When I saw the first one, it looked like you took a thin slab of the belly....

I have also replaced an entire belly and it is possible to cut out a section clear across the belly and up to half the thickness to make it easier to glue in a new section. In the above case or a section clear across the belly, I make the replacement part a hair longer than will fit the space, then flex the limb backward to open the space just enough to accept the new wood. That way, there's no slack to take up when it starts having to bear the compression force.

[Stick Bender]

I think your making a smart move just my opinion ,for a hunting bow it would suck to have a bow collapse on a once in a life time buck ,sugar  maple is a awsome bow wood look foward to seeing that one.

[DC]

There are some things you can try but a patched bow is a patched bow. It will always be second rate, especially to you. It's not good for the ego to try and show off a bow with a big zit on it. I've patched a few and then hardly ever use them again. The patch will last longer that way though

[Jim Davis]

There are some things you can try but a patched bow is a patched bow. It will always be second rate, especially to you. It's not good for the ego to try and show off a bow with a big zit on it. I've patched a few and then hardly ever use them again. The patch will last longer that way though

I just took the one pictured above out and shot it a couple dozen times. It's one of my fastest bows and most stable. Nothing to do with being patched in three places, but it's a good bow.