I am working what I hoped would be a mulberry long bow. During the tillering process, all of the sudden I noticed a hinge. I started trying to work around the hinge, lowering the weight on either side of it, but still the hinge persisted. Then I noticed that the bow had a lot of set in the hinge, which it seems to me by my reading indicates that the wood is damaged right there at the hinge.

Fortunately, the bow is long enough (71 inches nock to nock) That I think I'll be able to pike it and still get a decent shooter. But it shook me a little bit. Is it the case that if I accidentally introduce a very small hinge, then bending the bow could crush the wood at the hinge, at which point the whole thing is toast? I guess the implication of this would be to always be on the lookout for developing hinges and catch em as soon as possible. Or could it just have been a defect in the wood to begin with? It is a very knotty piece of wood, for reference. Also, for reference, it is probably far too wet; I chopped it down less than a month ago. I was just eager to get started And told myself it was a narrow enough stave that maybe it would be OK. But I know this was probably misguided.

Cut it in half and you'll get two good tomato stakes...

The hinge is between the 2 knots that are stiffer than the rest of the stave. If you checked the thickness at the hinge you will probably see it is thinner there than outside of the knots. How much is the rest of the bow bending? Maybe reduce the limb thickness on both limbs gradually and don't pull the bow so the hinge bends anymore.
Will you post a pic of the front profile?

was it a split stave or a sapling, or a branch off the trunk( it looks awfully wiggly)? how much materials have you worked off and what manner are you using for material removal?

Quote from: dbeaver on November 18, 2025, 07:34:31 AMwas it a split stave or a sapling, or a branch off the trunk( it looks awfully wiggly)? how much materials have you worked off and what manner are you using for material removal?

So this is off of a Mulberry bush from my backyard. I cut the whole thing down to the stump three or so years ago, and this is one of the many new "trunks" which have shot up. The diameter of it at the base was maybe 2 1/2 inches (This is the side with the hinge) and of the other side was maybe one and a half inches. So the side that has the hinge has been whittle down quite a bit, first with a knife and then with a rasp, and it's now about 0.75 inches. I think I introduced the hinge by cutting in too much with the knife.

Quote from: Pat B on November 17, 2025, 10:36:57 PMThe hinge is between the 2 knots that are stiffer than the rest of the stave. If you checked the thickness at the hinge you will probably see it is thinner there than outside of the knots. How much is the rest of the bow bending? Maybe reduce the limb thickness on both limbs gradually and don't pull the bow so the hinge bends anymore.
Will you post a pic of the front profile?

It is a bit narrower there. I will post a pic tonight.

My initial thought was that I tillered it too thin there, which seems more obvious, but it surprised me that the bow so quickly took so much set there, so I wondered if the wood might just already have had a defect there. One of my main questions is whether this is a common occurrence: once you introduce a small hinge and pull the bow back to tiller, do you risk crushing the wood fibers at the hinge and ruining the bow? The implication would be just to be way more careful and tillering and never introduce a hinge in the first place. I am a noob bowyer and just trying to develop intuition.

Yes, once you cause a hinge you do crush the wood cells. If not bad you might be able to recover from that. Get the rest of the limbs bending evenly without bending the hinged area any more and then heat treat the belly. That might work but it might not. You can learn a lot about the wood if you want to by trying what I suggest.
 How many growth rings are in this stave, sapwood and heartwood? BTW, mulberry can make a very good bow.

Quote from: Pat B on November 18, 2025, 04:05:42 PMYes, once you cause a hinge you do crush the wood cells. If not bad you might be able to recover from that. Get the rest of the limbs bending evenly without bending the hinged area any more and then heat treat the belly. That might work but it might not. You can learn a lot about the wood if you want to by trying what I suggest.
 How many growth rings are in this stave, sapwood and heartwood? BTW, mulberry can make a very good bow.

It is only 4 big thick growth rings; looks to me like only the innermost two are heartwood. Thanks so much, I may try that.

Some more images; in order, the front profile, a close-up of the hinge, the bow on the tree when I first saw the hinge, the growth rings when I cut it, and the cross-section after roughing out the thick end.

I'm no self bowyer, but working with wood less than a month old seems like you are wasting your time, and trying to build a bow from a green sapling doesn't make much sense to me...  

You are right, Kirk. Only well seasoned wood should be made into a bow.
If that stave was well seasoned it would have made a 45# bow, probably. And, mulberry generally has thick growth rings. And, even with that much sapwood.

The culprit is 3 years of wood growth and 1 month of drying.  I see your attempt and suggest you grab a suitable stave and learn from something that doesnt beg for special consideration on each pull of the rasp or scraper.

Cut the hinge off, play around with other stuff and make a bendy handle mulberry next fall

All, thanks very much for your replies. I think I learned my lesson. I'll try some higher quality staves.