Enough to make a grown man cry!


This tragedy happened without warning. I was putting it on the tillering tree after scraping. I pulled it back to 20" I have done it up till now with out any problems. This time I got a soft pop and the sound of splitting wood. I had even pulled it to 22" on the scale. The only thing I can think is I shorted the string 1" in length and just miss judged the added stress.

I may just see if I can follow the split and make my son a bow. I don't really know yet. This was my first time trying to make a bow. I learned a lot thru this process, and had taken it slow I thought. It is a very bitter sweat moment. One the time and care, and now bow. I did learn a lot, and get some wonderful advice from the gang. Most of it will make my next attempt a bit faster. I want have to ask as many question and pause to ask some of the question. I am sure I start another one in the near future and I still have a lot more questions.

Thanks to Steve and Patb for the Stave
My thanks to Osagetree, Eric K, Dale H and the others that helped guide me thru this part of my journey.

I feel your pain Kelly. I had been following your progress on this project. My first 2 bows exploded on me. I am certain your next bow will turn out fine.

Shawn

Aww, that aint nothing.  A little duct tape will fix that right up.

Like they say, if you arent breaking them, you arent building them.

-Fritz

QuoteOriginally posted by Fritz Brown:
Aww, that aint nothing.  A little duct tape will fix that right up.

Like they say, if you arent breaking them, you arent building them.

-Fritz

Actually.... Could you not treat it as a laminate & just Urac it back together? You know it's gonna be a perfect fit together, so why not glue it back up? If you put a laminate over it, would that not fix it up & stop it lifting again?

Sorry if'n this sounds dumb, never made a bow myself, just looking at it from an engineer's point of view....

Sorry Kelly, I know you have been working hard on that bow.

Kelly, you may be able to salvage it for your boy, just be careful that it well exceeds his draw length. You don't want it to blow up on him!

Chaulk it up as experience,,, you did good!

I would bet if'n it was osage or black locust it would have survived. Do you have any more wood to work on?

I fixed this one with new bamboo and urac in the crack. This bow is still shooting after a bunch of arrows over the years.

I learned a neat trick for getting glue into a crack the other day while surfing through a flintlock building site. Blow it deep into the crack with compressed air.

Before

 

After

 

Eric, what kind of bamboo is that in your first pic?

Thanks,

For your support in my time of morning   :(      :(   ,    ok it is over time to move on.

Robtattoo I don't know this was my first try. It seems Eric thinks so.

Osage Not at this time. I check my 2 local hardware/lumber yards but don't seem to find any that will work.

Eric urac is that a type of glue, and what kind of bamboo should I look for.

If I where to back it with boo what would be the top draw weight I would be looking at, could I get 50lbs out of her?

Keep at it and never say die!

One of many, until the light came on for me...
 

The bamboo in the broken picture is local bamboo but it had been stored in my mouldy basement. The replacement strip is also local but wasn't stored in the basement.

Kelly, Urac-185 is the glue, made by the Nelson Paint Co. Hands down the best for gluing up wood bows.

Wingnut has some really good bamboo and yes you can get 50 lbs with a bamboo backing, probably a lot more if you want it.

Ok! Ok! I now need read the backing portion more in depth.

When I glue the pieces back togather should I start try to glue the hole thing at once or just do small section at a time.

Osage don't go to far, I be back to tillering soon.

Glue all the splintered pieces back at one time, let the glue cure, then flatten the back and glue on the backing.

I have always used a belt sander to prepare bamboo backing. It can be done by hand but takes a while.

Well I guess I have to make some time for a bandsaw is my only power tool. I am going looking for some bamboo today heck as soon as I get done with this message. If I can't find any I will look at online ordering.