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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Ronnie Newell on September 15, 2021, 08:16:02 AM
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Was gonna refinish my hickory selfbow. Found these two cracks. Will backing save this thing or is it toast?
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Are you sure they are cracks??
Most cracks I've seen go lengthwise with the grain... :dunno:
They almost look like drawknife nicks?
Have you tried to shoot it since you found them?
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Is that on the back of the bow, or the belly? On the belly it's called crysalling. Regardless, it's not a good sign either way. Early indication of eventual limb failure.
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[ You are not allowed to view attachments ] looks to me they go all the way around. I'm afraid to shoot it but I flexed it hard and didn't see or hear anything. It must be surface cracks.
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I have heat treated the belly and too much I think. Its lightly charred, wondering if that made it too brittle and caused this.
I really don't know much abt wooden bows, other than I don't have much luck with them. Thats why I don't have an Osage or Yew
......lol
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Bummer Ronnie. But on the positive side, it's time to make a new bow!
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Not good, back or belly. Like Orion said on the belly it would be compression fracture(fret, chrysals) on the back a tension failure.
Unless you strained the bow right after heat treating it probably isn't the reason for the cracks or frets.
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Thank ya'll for the info. Think I'm through messing around with wooden bows.
Thanks again
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Thank ya'll for the info. Think I'm through messing around with wooden bows.
Thanks again
I've heard that from you before. Now go build another one. :wavey:
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I’m a hunter-indian. I let bow builder-indians build bows for me to shoot!
Bisch
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Mr Ronnie you might be able to salvage it if you wrap it in sinew and coat with Tite Bond. I did that to the Osage bow I built when it had a fracture on the back. It is still shooting :thumbsup:
Give me a call and I’ll explain in more detail
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Or you could just send it to me.
I am a recurve guy but it would look cool at the top of my rack.
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I would not trust a cracked bow.
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Just remember if you shoot it and it breaks your the only one who's going to feel. :-)
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I have a friend who puts on a longbow shooting demonstration at the local SCA Renaissance Fair, he has several hickory long bows he lets the interested shoot. I looked at one and saw chrysals from stem to stern, perhaps a dozen of them, every hickory bow he had was the same.
He said they had been that way for years, none had ever failed.
Perhaps you will get lucky, I would give the area a good sinew wrap for insurance although I have never seen a bow crack all the way around like yours.