Repair advice

[Arrowbuster]

 I have pushed this stave aside a few different times because of the checking that it had. Finally decided I would give her a shot. I superglued cracks in belly real good and started working on tiller. I heard a little tick sound tonight while slightly bending. I noticed check seems to have pulled apart on the back. As of yet there appears to be no damage so I was looking for advice before I proceed. My thoughts are possibly backing with rawhide or sinew. I do have both but have never tried backing a bow with either. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Arrowbuster]

The check

[Arrowbuster]

This is osage just in case you cant tell from my pic.

[scp]

Boy, that check appears to be deep. Where is it and how long is it? Does it go all the way from the back to belly?

[Arrowbuster]

Yes it runs all the way through it Located in lower part of the limb just down from fade. Only plus is that its center limb and not close to edge.

[Arrowbuster]

Check is probably a foot long. It is sounding like my first instinct to throw it aside would have been the better move.

[Nasr]

Back it with rawhide finish it up then glue and wrap it with serving string. That is what I would do. The rawhide should stop the limb from spreading open when bending. If you haven’t sinewed a bow before the rawhide back is an easier choice and you for. Also when laying down the sinew you would be laying it down parallel to the crack so that might not help much.

[scp]

It might not be a drying check but a defect. Either way, it is located in a place that will take a lot of pressure. All I can think of is to clean it out well and put some good gap filling epoxy containing metal or something hard as filler and clamp it well. If you feel up to it, you can also glue in some thin insert that fits real well in there. Good luck.

[Arrowbuster]

Thank you for the replies, I will let you know how it goes. Hopefully post a shootable bow soon.

[Digital Caveman]

The wood along the crack looks discolored, which means it may have been a crack in the living tree.

[Kidder]

I had some checks appear recently in a bow I was working as well. I filled them with CA as best I could and then did a sinew wrap. The theory was that when the sinew dried it would shrink and compress the check preventing it from spreading. Hasn’t failed yet...

[Arrowbuster]

I cleaned it out tonight to do my repair. This was definitely a wood defect. The wood I dug out was decayed. I cleaned her out and got a gap. I then used smooth on 11 and filled voids then clamped her good. I will clean up and rawhide back next. I am hopeful this repair will work. Thinking about doing at least a silk thread wrap for insurance also.

[bassman]

Hope it works for you. My approach to the crack would have been to clean all the rot out of the crack with a dremel tool, and use crazy glue ,and wood saw dust using compressed layers. Then sinew back it. That way has worked more than once for me in the past. Not saying what you did will not work.

[Eric Krewson]

I always called the discolored wood wind shakes, the folk here say they are not. Almost all the osage I cut has them, I work around the dark areas, the wood to either side of the crack is always sound.

I see this a lot in my split logs.

[HH~]

If it had oxidation (dark color) in it. It's a been a check or wind shake for a loooong time. why it look like its aged wood, its had air on it. If it has major separation it will have to be backed but if only checking it can be filled with light BSI blue label glue first. If you fing some openings with small separation pop in BSI purple label. AS LONG AS IT DOES NOT RUN TO EDGE!!!

Shawn~