Stalking Tiller Live!

Welcome to this first time ever bowbuilding demonstration! I am a rookie but if you're here, you have probably answered a couple questions for me. Now you get the opportunity to do it live. I'll put up a picture in my tillering efforts and then you all can give me advice either via email or on the Leather Wall. Take a look at my sinew backing side trip first and then we'll get on with it. I hope we can finish this bow in a couple days. It's now 4:50 EDT on 5/4/99. If my boss doesn't catch me "working" all should go well. Maybe it will even blow up and you can see an actual failure LIVE! Kinda like a wreck at a stock car race. I'll put up a couple pictures now and tomorrow we'll get at it. Thanks for visiting...John

Sinew-Backing Side Trip

These are a couple photos of my little side trip into sinew backing. This is a highly reflexed (about 4") osage flatbow. It is 54" nock-to-nock. It's 1.6" wide tapering from mid-limb down to 3/8" nocks. I'll put a couple other photos up when it's done. I can't wait to tiller it!

This is my set up. My first suggestion is to try not to do this in your kitchen. My wife was out of town so I got away with it but cleanup was a bear.
Here's the lessons I learned about sinewing:

This is a very messy proposition and hide glue is not easy to clean up!
The hide glue needs to be much thinner than I started with. Almost watery I found.
I should have squeezed more glue out than I did because it dripped so much on the bow that it made it difficult to see where I had sinewed and where I had not.
It looks like hell when you're done. I thought 2 courses were not quite enough but after completion, it looked way too thick.
Thankfully, after the glue set up and dried some, it's not nearly as bad. This morning it actually looked OK.
I used too large of bundles. TBB says 15 threads or so. I must of had thick threads because I found 8 or so to be best.
This is a lot of work so I doubt I'll build many more bows that need it. I've got another short bow (this one's sister) that will get rawhide instead.
Hide glue and leg sinew from rutting deer smell about like a goats rear end when mixed. I spent considerable time airing out the house.

Click on the thumbnails below to get a bigger picture.

A closer look at the gaps in the sinew.

Just a view of the finished sinew backing.
And another closer view of the finished job and another gap

Now to the tillering

We already have a problem. After sinewing, the bow has pulled the string off center to the wrong side. Check out this picture and then see if you can give me any advise on how to handle it. I can't turn it over since the lower limb is shorter than the upper. I can't steam it because of the sinew backing. It's a right handed bow.

Email John Scifres with comments, questions or suggestions.

Take me to DAY TWO
Take me Days 2A and 3
Take me to the Stretch Run
Take me to Finishing Touches

Take me back to John's Bowyer Page

Take me back to John's Home Page