Sinew Backing a Bow

Hey,

I've been making and braking a few longbows for a while and recently got hold of some sinew to experiment with making a shorter primitive style bow at some point in the future.

Only thing is, I'm in need of a good hide glue to use for the backing, if anyone can vouch for the Liberon I'm up for trying that but they dont state the strength. Any other ideas of a good hide glue I can get in the UK would be great.

Many thanks, Kieran
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
I've used Liberon Pearl glue for putting an Ash backing onto cherry. Not used it for sinew (I haven't got the patience for sinewing... tried it once with Titebond III)
The Liberon was fine. I used a small cheapo deep fat fryer as a glue pot.
Bowyer's Diary: Glueing up the Ash/Cherry bow.
If you want the low down on sinew backed bows, get onto Primitive Archer, it's the best live source of good info.
Del
 
Thank you very much Del, I was hoping you'd spot this one!

In that case I shall have a go with it, got to be worth a try at some point, right?

Good shout on primitive archer, I'm on the forums but didnt think to post this on there as most of it seems to be US-centric..

Many thanks for your help.
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
Yeah, it is rather US centric... but they know their stuff for sure and it's not all Osage ;)
There are some good UK and European guys there too. Mikekeswick knows his stuff... (he's called Mike and he's in Keswick :) ;) )
Del
 
I'll certainly have a read whats been put on there as far as sinew prep and whatnot. For the best seeing as how common it is over there compared to here..

I had a chance at a perfectly straight, and straight grained osage stave with probably four bows in it but couldn't stump up the money they wanted, its up there with yew on my to do list when I can find a good stave.. At the minute I'm making mostly combinations of lemonwood, hickory and ipe, with a few self bows thrown in for the fun..
 

OTDEAN

New member
Only glue that will combine with sinew correctly is hide glue. Making a bow with sinew in the UKs climate is just pointless. It might dry out in your house but unless you are very careful what days you take your bow outdoors, the sinew will just soak up the moisture. You could sinew back your bow and then cover it with birch bark I guess, that might help in our climate.
 

Steve Rough

New member
Have you thought about backing it with rawhide. You can get it from pet shops. Just look for bug dog chews and soke it in the bath over night. I've used it on a couple of bows and love it. It's cheap and easy too. Check out BoarriorBows on YouTube.
 

OTDEAN

New member
I used to use bow backing when I first started making bows, I thought from some reason that a bow backing would protect the bows back and make up for my lack of skill. As my experience has expanded over the years, I soon realised the bow backings are a waste of time. Just make bows as one piece of wood without backings Sure you will break a lot of bows, but you will learn how make bows properly with every failure. Nothing is more beautiful than a bow at full brace with knots and warts, just the way momma nature intended.
 
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