cracked limb? let's patch it

[Clay Hayes]

#4419

I put together a short vid on patching a cracked limb (in a selfbow) this morning. It didn’t upload in HD for some reason so the video quality isn’t as good as usual. But you can still get the point.

[Stephen Graf]

#30995

I’ve wrapped cracks with sinew, but hadn’t thought of using raw hide like that. At the very least, it’s a better idea since raw hide is more plentiful than sinew.

I have found that hide is way more stretchable in one direction than the other. So I always try to make sure I align the “girth” direction of the hide with the direction I need it to stretch in. Like say when I use it for a grip on a bow…

So that fixes cracks on the back/side of the limb. Dean Torges has a nice fix-a-long for fixing cracks on the belly of a bow on his website. Between the two, a self bow aught to last forever.

[Clay Hayes]

#31660

Steve Graf wrote: I have found that hide is way more stretchable in one direction than the other.

I know what you’re talking about. I think that has more to do with how the hide was dried than anything. You can stretch a hide really wide, which will shorten the length, or the other way around. It it’s dried stretched one way, It’ll stretch more in the other when it’s re-wet. This really becomes apparent when working with buckskin/brain tanning.

good tip on Torges site.

[David Petersen]

#35822

Clay — What advantages have you found to using hide rather than sinew? Certainly, whether the split is nearer the handle or farther out in the bendy section of the limb would seem to make all the difference in how patchable it is?

[Alexandre Bugnon]

#35861

Hi Clay

Have you ever posted a video on exactly how to repair a twisted self bow limb?

[Clay Hayes]

#37714

AlexBugnon wrote: Hi Clay

Have you ever posted a video on exactly how to repair a twisted self bow limb?

I haven’t. Some of my bows have twisted limbs, which started with a twisted stave. If I tried to “fix” it now, after the bow was finished, it would throw everything out of line i.e., the nocks wouldn’t line up with the center of the handle.

I recently started a bow from a stave with a little bit of twist. I may try to take the twist our just for the heck of it. I’ll shoot some footage if i do. But this wouldn’t help with taking the propeller twist out of a finished bow.

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