Sinewing preperation

[BowEd]

So...I have a nice piece of wood ready for sinewing and am going to prepare some 15 to 20 inch elk,horse,and moose leg sinew for it.Normally to prepare 1200 grains worth 3 tendons would be enough for the old tried and true method dry pounding and stripping it.I'm wondering about the latest method stripping it into usable strands after it has been soaked and wet,and with a lot less waste
My thoughts are to soak a couple of tendons in warm water as long as it takes to get them pliable enough to begin stripping.Think I'll use an ice pick for this is my first thought but maybe not necessary.
Have others on here been down this road or method before?

[wizardgoat]

After reading that soaking thread I had to try it myself. I pounded them enough just to remove the casing, then soaked in water overnight. I will never pound sinew ever again.
So much easier, way less waste, and way less effort over all. I processed 24 tendons in 4 nights, couple hours a night. 
First few I processed about 75% then let dry before completing. The last bunch I just processed wet fully.

[BowEd]

Cool....Sounds almost too good to be true,but I'll give it a whirl.Would be nice to have a bunch of prepared excess on hand too.I'll report back later.

[willie]

wiz,
does it seem like the softer the easier? or is there a sweet spot  for it coming apart, needing some  dryness?

[Bryce]

I pound, and then shred by hand, then I soak the sinew in my water/hide glue mixture for about 30 mins. Then when applying; squeeze out as much as possible and then comb the sinew onto the back of the bow. After that I lay dow a strip of linen over the sinew and then wrap the limb snug with a strip of rubber, down one way and then back again to make sure it’s even:)

[wizardgoat]

Willie, is grab 3 or 4 our the bucket and by the time I got to the 4th, it comes apart a little easier, maybe because it’s not so wet and slippery.
Bryce, I believe the question at hand is not so much the method of sinewing, but processing tendons wet versus dried. 

[BowEd]

Yes Bryce I've done it that way many times myself and have had very good results every time.I'm talking preparing the strands without all the pounding and time consuming stripping.

[GlisGlis]

i cant find the thread.
could you point me please in the right direction?
the technique is dry the sinew, then soak until pliable, then .... direct stripping?

[PatM]

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,62837.msg881601.html#msg881601

[GlisGlis]

 

[Bryce]

Yes Bryce I've done it that way many times myself and have had very good results every time.I'm talking preparing the strands without all the pounding and time consuming stripping.

Oooooh gotchyah. Hmm I know I haven’t sinwed as many bows as you. I haven’t run into any issues YET.

Have you ever thought about taking whole clean strips of back sinew. Soaking those in viscous hide glue and laying them down whole. Kinda like sinew tape lol

[willie]

Have you ever thought about taking whole clean strips of back sinew. Soaking those in viscous hide glue and laying them down whole. Kinda like sinew tape lol

I have a piece like that drying right now, without the glue, just to see how much it shrinks.

Ed, if the  Native Americans used the sinews fresh from the animal, what would be the purpose of drying (and reconstituting) in this day and age? Why not just put them in the freezer if your bow project is not waiting for sinew when you butcher?
I have also read where Native Americans dried their sinew, but could this be for storage purposes if not being applied to a bow immediately?. Maybe not the preferred way to build a bow?

[BowEd]

Thanks Pat!I'll get back to this thread to speak my opinion.
Bryce...Yea that's an option to do with the loin sinew.I can see your point.I usually apply sinew tapered in thickness out to the tip as needed for working portions of the limb and crown it most times for reducing mass weight.Might sound tedious but it makes sense to me and I'm a believer leg sinew is better and am accustomed to using it the most.Most don't realize it because they don't reverse brace bows very far when sinewing,but have seen Koreans use it on their bamboo horn bows.
Loin sinew coming as is is harder for me to do that with to get that feature in the beginning.Although I would think it could work well with very long loin strip full length as a final course to not affect my tapering and crowning profile.I find that most loin sinew is rather hard fibrous strings more so than stripped leg sinew too[Soaking in good warm water can remedy that for me].Pat M's method of wrapping and reheating can remedy that too.Good stripped leg sinew becomes rather fluffy like angel hair as is and absorbs the hide glue more readily IMHO.So maybe really loin sinew is just as good really if it absorbed more hide glue IMO.I would think sinew is sinew really myself too.

[BowEd]

Willie....This is true if all the sinew you use is acquired from animals that we kill.Most times it's not the case.Most sinew I use is boughten and already dried.I like the long leg moose/elk/or horse sinew myself.Of which I don't kill very many of.
Drying sinew does'nt reduce it's power any being reconstituded with water later any more than dried raw hide being made into good brain tan leather.
With the nomadic life style of most native americans I'm sure it was more convenient to dry sinew for a later date to use.Especially if they had more than what they needed at the time.They just had to keep their dogs away from the stuff....lol.
Personally that's what I like about brain tanning and sinewing is that I can do without any electricity to keep my supply on hand.
Just like fleshing and framing coon hides to sell.It does'nt need to take up freezer space.
Although I do think pre freezing deer hides before making them into brain tan leather does help to stress or stretch the fibers more so brain oils can penetrate easier.
Hope I answered your question with my hands on point of view.

[BowEd]

Really this brings a thought to mind.If a person ever makes hide glue for themselves they will see the dramatic shrinkage that it does spread out in a thin layer to be broken up into granuals for reconstituded use.
If the sinew can absorb the hide glue properly in the right state before being applied to the bow I believe loin or leg sinew is equally as good as each other.
I know there are videos of koreans using loin sinew combing and combing the hide glue into the fibers over and over.This not only keeps the fibers straight which is obvious but also induces the hide glue into the fibers of the sinew.
Hide glue IMHO opinion has super enhancing qualities with sinew making the sinew even more resilient.