Stripping down a bow

nwrob1 · Post by **nwrob1** » Mon May 06, 2013 9:03 pm

Hey there ATARN - it's been a while. I had one bow limb break in tillering, and one irreparably damaged from heat, and had to put the project aside a while to recover emotionally! So I'm happy with the cores and would like to save them. How best to strip them down? Do I soak them, and reassemble the cores, or is there a way to get the sinew and horn off without damaging the core joints?

Thanks!

mikekeswick · Post by **mikekeswick** » Wed May 08, 2013 6:13 am

A heat gun and water will do the job. It will be difficult to use an already reduced core.

Uli · Post by **Uli** » Thu May 09, 2013 8:48 am

put in water 3 days, then 1h in warm water (60?C)
that should melt the glue sufficiently

Kviljo · Post by **Kviljo** » Thu May 09, 2013 9:20 am

I would make another core and have it ready to sinew before putting it in water. That way you can re-use the soaked-off sinew.

Re-using the core parts does indeed sound like a difficult task, although it might be ok if you plan on reducing the dimensions a little. However, I would fear that the wood parts would warp and straighten out a little when soaked and dried. I'd rather spend the time to make another core.

nwrob1 · Post by **nwrob1** » Mon May 13, 2013 8:24 pm

Thx for the replies. So if soaked, the sinew can be reused!?

It sounds like I should start over. Heartbreaking, but I knew this wouldn't be easy the first time out! Neither of these failures were the fault of workmanship, so perhaps there's hope

Uli · Post by **Uli** » Tue May 14, 2013 6:09 pm

well, its a bit harder to re-use the sinew once it was soked in glue or water (it gets stiffer), but yes, I have done that successfully

radius · Post by **radius** » Wed May 15, 2013 3:18 pm

last time i soaked the sinew off a busted bow, it came off in a long strip from tip to tip, even though it was composed of short-ish leg tendon fibres. i considered re-using it but ultimately just tossed it in the glue pot and turned it into glue.