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Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: buckeyebowhunter on February 17, 2020, 09:08:20 AM
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Not sure what to do with this one guys. I got a little carried away last minute on this riser and decided to put a little antler overlay on the front of the sight window. Glued it up with smooth on and clamped it on no problems. I decided can't hurt to put it in the bow oven for a couple hours. Boy was I wrong! The oven peeled my original glue lines apart like they were made of Elmer's glue. There's a spot in the middle of the riser that has daylight all the way through it. The riser is webbwood(dymondwood type stuff) and the lines that separated were where the dymondwood meets my core tuff accents. To say I'm heart broken is an understatement. Any thoughts on repair or is it a fancy paperweight? Thanks guys.
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Is the separation only at riser or did it get limbs too?
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If there is any way you can clamp that crack together I would try masking tap on one side so glue does not run out and wick thin CA in there wait till the air bubbles quit and clamp it and let it cure on its own with no accelerator. Just let it set overnite clamped. No guarantee but worth a shot.
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Kenny my bad. It's a 3 piece bow. Separation only occurred at core tuff and dymondwood seams. Original glue line is smooth on.
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You could try clamping the crap out of it and put in back in the oven. Keep tightening clamps as the adhesive softens and cool it down VERY slowly.
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I have had 2 different bows with separations in them like that. Both were with diamond wood. I don’t know if whoever manufactures the stuff is using wood that isn’t fully cured or what but I won’t build anything with it again unless I’ve had it for at least a year or more and can guarantee the stuff isn’t going to shrink up. I have several blocks of diamond wood on the rack that I’ve been there for a year or more and everyone of them have shrinkage cracks in them.
I would do as Stick suggested. That’s what I did and both bows are still good to this day.
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Gentlemen thanks for the replies. Crittergitter that saddens me. I really love the density of this stuff and the ability to get about any color. Does anyone have a recommendation for a laminate that compares in density? I have made several rises with actionwood but is no where near as dense. Thanks
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I fixed one like that...I used my bench vise...heated some smooth on so it was really runny and used a tooth pick to push it in as much as I could. Then put it in the bench vise and cranked it down.
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Good deal it is a TD!! Like said before, CA is the bowyer's friend!!
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Where you getting that diamondwood. . I have had trouble with the black. Dymalux in pretty good stuff American made but you have to buy the whole panel
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Stic, this is not the original dymondwood. It's actually called webbwood but the lady I talked with said it's designed to be the same thing. They also wanted to sell me a full panel but I was able to talk them into selling me a smaller piece for this initial riser. The stuff looks awesome and is extremely dense also very pricey. 75 bucks for a 4 by 18" piece not including shipping. I was shocked to see my glue lines come apart like that but it's funny that I did a search on here earlier in regards to dymondwood and members were saying it did not do well with heat (should've done my homework). Oh well. I will be trying the CA glue this. Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I will post results.
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Mike at Rosewood archery sells diamond wood. And I would trust his to be dry before any other suppliers.
But.... there are lots of other choices for dense/heavy woods too.
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Randy, thanks for the tip!
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Diamond wood came in two different densities I cant remember what the letter behind the name were ,something like LDX that is what you need for bow making as it was low density meaning it was not compressed the compressed stuff was always cracking and shrinking . If your laminate was compressed that is probably what happened it shrank and pulled away from your accent stripes . Osage will do the same to me its a poor handle material . Bocote is another that shrinks bad in the heat I have had bocote in the shop for more than 5 years and it still cracked when I started working on it .
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From what I understand smooth on will cure in 24 hours at room temperature. I have glued risers from actionwood without putting them in the oven at all and have seen no problems. I would not have put the dymondwood riser in the oven had I not applied the antler overlay and tried to speed up the drying process. I guess where I'm getting at is would it be okay to just glue the high density dymondwood together and let it cure at room temperature?
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Do you think it was heat that caused the epoxy to release or caused the webbwood to shrink?
What temperature did you cook it at?
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Flem, I am positive it was the heat because there were no separation in my glue lines before. I probably had the riser in the oven for an hour and half. My thermostat is a Bingham's so around 150/170 degrees I believe.
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So then, do you think there is any reason to be concerned with material shrinkage thats being discussed?
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Not particularly, but more of a concern for not getting fully set/cured EA-40 in the riser. If that's even a big deal for the takedown riser. I could see it being very problematic with a one piece if using that material is going to create shrinkage.
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Just my two cents, but I would have to think it was related to material shrinkage. If it was just a glue line letting go I would expect to see it separate at the end of the piece, not the center.
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Brad it was also trying to separate at the ends and not just in the middle. However the middle at the shelf was the worst area. The ends had just barely started to lift from the core tuff.