Glue creep?

[Rich Saffold]

Marty, If you look at handle you will see the glue is bulging out at the ends and not on the sides of the glued on section..This is from the bow limb bending into the handle. If this was a humidity or grease problem it would be on all sides of the grip, and not just where the ipe limb meets the ipe grip...

This can actually be a good indicator of when you need to get the limbs working a bit more, usually just outside the grip..Especially if you see this before putting the finish on...

Rich

[mullet]

  Rich's answer is good enough for me. I was flying by the seat of my pants with another option.

[Justin Snyder]

I don't really have a clue either Eddie.  That is why I was asking questions.  It seems awful thick in the fades to be bending though since it has hardly started to narrow up. I thought the glue joint might just appear to be wider because it is cut on an angle there.  Tap the riser with a hammer.  You should be able to tell from the sound if the glue is compromised.  If it has been slipping like that it will probably pop right off.  Justin

[Apex Predator]

This is not just visual folks.  You can feel it.  I would think that any glue would have set up by now!  I would guess that its several thousandths of an inch bulging out.  I have checked all my joints, and the ipe-ipe are the only ones doing this.  I'm talking two different batches of ipe as well, which are quite different in color, if nothing else.  Nothing has come loose yet, and I have several hundred shots through three different bows showing this problem.  Handles glued with TB 3, and tip overlays glued with 2 ton epoxy.  I really appreciate all that are helping on this one.

[Badger]

Apex, because it is ipe to ipe the glued on piece is not flexing with the main part of the bow, just a very slight flex is all that is needed to cause this. Even on very thick modern risers they have some detectable flex. Sometimes a very thin slat glued on between the two like an accent stripe will stop this. Steve

[mullet]

   I see what you mean Steve. I never thought of that. That's why you and Rich get paid the Big Bucks ! I learned something.

[Justin Snyder]

I learned something too Eddie.  I guess I never had an issue like this because I always put something in there for color if Im building up a handle. Nice to have the big $$$$ boys around eh.  Justin

[Badger]

I glued one up the other day and the handle popped loose on me today. I used a jatoba strip between omy osage belly slat and the osage grip, not flexable enough I guess. Anytime I start with a 3/4" thick slat and the bow is close to 72" long and about 70# I find it real hard to keep a riser stiff. I think in the future I will glue a power lam between the boo and the osage riser on these longer bows. I know better but do it anyway?? Go figure? Steve

[Marc St Louis]

I always glue on a power lam between the backing and core that extends to just past the handle when the core is a bit thin.  This always cures any flexing problem

[Adam Keiper]

The five highlighted qualities of urea based glues noted in this article scream, "BOW GLUE!".  Read and see if you agree with me that Titebond, while convenient and readily available, may not be the best choice for laminated bow glue-ups.  If you haven't heard of or considered it, Urac 185 is inexpensive and available through Neslon Paints website.

http://www.djmarks.com/pdf/ureaglue.pdf

[Badger]

  The glue I had let go on this handle was very strong epoxy. Used for high stress modern bow designs. If a handle is going to flex the glue won't help it much, maybe a little .

[Rich Saffold]

Adam, I understand your view, but there's many glues which work for bows.and even Urac can't keep a glued on handle down if the tiller bends through the grip..no glue can.. If something goes wrong with a bow glued up with Urac, say the string splits the nock on the arrow and the bow dry fires, with urac the failure will take part of the backing with it. With titebond 3 it will  most likely shed part or all of the backing cleanly, and you can glue it back on..I have done it a few times with great success..

Add in the high "net" cost of Urac, because of its short shelf life , plus you have to order and wait for  it. Not to mention getting it on anything but the glue line creates a problem...I did well over 50 laminate bows with Urac, and since I have found several glues I like better, Titebond being one of them. The last batch of Urac I had went bad in less than 3 months, I called them up, and they wouldn't even give me the time of day... It was all I needed to hear...

Rich-

[Badger]

   I successfully repaired this bow with tightbond3. I shortened it a couple of inches to relieve some pressure off the handle and dropped the weight to 60#. Steve

[david w.]

How thick should a powerlam be?

[Justin Snyder]

I always glue on a power lam between the backing and core that extends to just past the handle when the core is a bit thin.  This always cures any flexing problem

Marc, I always put one in too. This is why I am so confused on this. Look at the second picture.  He clearly has a fairly thick power lam in that bow.  That is why I cant imagine it bending. Justin