Have you guys had good luck with titebond for handles? I’m doing some retillering to drop weight on a rawhide backed bow. The handle had begun delaminating where I glued it with that bow grip crap. I was gonna cut off the delaminated part, plane it n titebond a new handle. Input?

Bigger question is why is it separating? Perhaps there is too much flex.

Could be too much flex. It was hickory bow, Purple Heart with zebra on top. Purple to hickory was glued with the stuff Bingham sells for glass bows no problem there. Zebra to Purple Heart was bow grip that was separating which made me think it was the glue. It’s pretty heavy I think 75 right now, I wonder if that played a part. What’s a durnell riser? Any suggestions besides that glass stuff that is expensive? Is there anything at the hardware store that’s cheaper or should I suck it up n get the good stuff?

If it was smooth on ad 40 it should have been fine.If you want to use wood glue Tb2 or3 you will need to wrap the limb, and fades with a nylon string. One inch on the limb and 2 inches on the fades.Or you can use sinew if you have it.

If it was smooth on ad 40 it should have been fine.If you want to use wood glue Tb2 or3 you will need to wrap the limb, and fades with a nylon string. One inch on the limb and 2 inches on the fades.Or you can use sinew if you have it.

If it was smooth on ad 40 it should have been fine.If you want to use wood glue Tb2 or3 you will need to wrap the limb, and fades with a nylon string. One inch on the limb and 2 inches on the fades.Or you can use sinew if you have it.

If it was smooth on ad 40 it should have been fine.If you want to use wood glue Tb2 or3 you will need to wrap the limb, and fades with a nylon string. One inch on the limb and 2 inches on the fades.Or you can use sinew if you have it.

If it was smooth on ad 40 it should have been fine.If you want to use wood glue Tb2 or3 you will need to wrap the limb, and fades with a nylon string. One inch on the limb and 2 inches on the fades.Or you can use sinew if you have it.

Can you put a picture up of the handle area? It sounds like you need fades. They are called that because the bends power is "faded" by the increasing thickness they offer.

Both risers popped off the 2 bows above with Tb3 glue. Cleaned them up ,and reglue them with Tb3, and wrapped the areas you see above.Both the risers are staying just fine.

That is the cheapest way to go.That,s what he wanted. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I saw one of your bows on primitive archer. Functional yes, elegant so much.Just trying to help the guy out.

I wanna say it’s 8” to the fades. I’d like elegant but if it looks halfway decent and works I can live with it. I was probably gonna replace the zebra with cherry. Hickory is tough to come by here. Would maple be an alright substitute? I would be willing to rip off the walnut and redo the whole handle I was leaning towards a beaver tail wrap

OCR Troll on.

Yeah I was thinking it was purple but it looks like walnut. Put the maple right on the walnut or cut it down to the hickory? Yeah cheap is good I cut staves last winter I was gonna build on but unforeseen circumstances are putting a damper on that. I’d like to get this going without dumping a bunch of cash into glue if I can. I have some t3 which is why I was asking that.

Yeah I was thinking it was purple but it looks like walnut. Put the maple right on the walnut or cut it down to the hickory? Yeah cheap is good I cut staves last winter I was gonna build on but unforeseen circumstances are putting a damper on that. I’d like to get this going without dumping a bunch of cash into glue if I can. I have some t3 which is why I was asking that.

Titebond 3 is waterproof. Jawge

I wasn’t so worried waterproof as strength

When you shoot it with the shoe laces, and it doesn,t shoot 175 fps cut it up , and throw it in the garbage can. That is the troll ,s claim to fame.Mean time he never posts his bows on here.He just likes to critique other bows, and tell every body what they are doing wrong or indirectly tell every one your bow is fugly.Even argues with bowyers more superior to him by a long shot Like the badger,Hatfield,and tells George Stout what he doesn,t know.He just loves to troll. Must be his hobby now that he is to old to shoot.

Troll on.

I have build several board bows backed or unbacked all with glued on handles using Titebond III and have never had a delamination or handle coming off or cracking. Your wood preparation and process is very important for good durable glue joints on something that receives a lot of stress like a bow.

I always resurface all faces of the glue joint just before gluing because the wood surface can get contaminated by oil form fingers and just natural oxidation of the wood over time can reduce the strength of the joint. Mating surfaces should be completely flat and as smooth as possible with no voids. Clamping pressure should only be enough to bring all the mating surfaces completely in contact. To much pressure squeezes out the glue and creates a dry weak joint. Do not rough up the surface like you would do if using epoxy. Wood glues such as Titebond penetrate into the wood fibers to create the bond and it shrinks as it dries and if there is not very smooth complete contact it will leave voids in the joint. Epoxy lays on the surface and does not shrink and will fill voids but it need a rough surface to give it something to bond to.

Troll on.

Never heard of a Darnell handle but have been adding thin lams to my handles for a lot of years.

Here is one such handle and the proper taper in the fade to keep the handle from popping off.

Back in the day every handle I put on with two ton epoxy popped off, I don't remember ever using titebond. It has always been urac, unibond or smooth-on, several extra thin lams for flexibility and the proper taper since I quit using two ton epoxy.

I once had a handle delam, too much flex. Direwolf told me about G2 epoxy. It is non critical mixing. I thought the handle let go because of moisture loss (shrinkage) when I moved from Michigan to Arizona. I fixed the handle and have since moved to Oklahoma. No issues for seven years now. Even took a Javelina in AZ. with it. John

The two I wrapped above have been working well for me for a long time.No more handle pop off,s for me in a long time. I use smooth on now. He was asking for a cheap fix.The proper way is what Eric shows above.Dave Mead makes some very good bamboo bows that shoot well. Look at his wraps. I like function first then looks.What I said above does work if you want extra strength in that area when using Tb3 glue in case of a pop off handle.Choose your own way ,but because it is not your way, doesn,t make it wrong. Quiet the contrary. Again I say beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Would welcome any and all suggestions for the best glue to use on the delamination between the bow and the red stringer in the attached picture, with the objective of making the bow usable. I was bending the bow somewhat to help show the gap, and you can see grass between the two pieces. And tips for best way / degree to clamp it. Thanks.

Providing all things are equal, such as your tiller and such, I would go with Smooth On. But, if all things aren't equal it wont matter what glue you use.

Thanks Pearl Drums.

Unfortunately I'm a novice at this and not quite sure what you mean by "all things equal".

I'm a little wary of trying to string the bow given the separartion in the riser, so I can't really measure the tiller distances.

What else would be included in what you refer to as "all things equal"?

The bow is unmodified, other than the aging of the wood and the glue, since having been purchased at a hardware store in the mid-1950s, so I would think that essentially all things should be "equal".

I think I need either a glue that will wick into the seams or that could be injected with a syringe.

Thanks.

Bill

I didn't realize it was an old hardware bow. I thought you had made it. All things being equal means that the tiller is correct on both limbs and not bending too close to the fades and handle area. Back in the day they tended to keep the fades stiff and whip tiller bows, at least that what I've seen in person and pics. Have you ever tried repairing it?

Unabond 800 Nelson paint co. Best I've seen. Arvin

Thanks Pearl Drums. No, I have never tried repairing it. Was my Dad's (55 pound) bow and was sitting in my attic in New Jersey for about 35 years until we just moved to Georgia last year. I guess the temperature swings of the attic weren't too good for it.I believe someone told me they thought it might be a Pearson bow. I've attached the only picture I could find of the bow back in the day - probably late 1950s.

Thanks OCR. Given my inexperience with working on bows, I'm afraid of complete removal of the riser, for fear of making it worse than it is. Right now the riser is separated only on the top half of the riser, and the bottom is not separated. I'm inclined to want to try repairing it as it is and, if it separates again to try the complete removal. Guess complete removal mi8ght be best as then I could clean the old glue off an perhaps sand or maybe put grooves in the pieces to be glued back together. If I do the complete removal, what would you suggest in preparing the wood, and what glue would you recommend?

Thanks.

Thanks very much!

Removing it wont be nearly as difficult as you may think. Odds are the glue is so weathered it will pop right off. Don't tooth or scratch up the mating surfaces, unless the glue/epoxy you use calls for it. Have fun!

If my starting thickness for the handle area is at least 3/4" and the bow is no more than 50# and 64" long I feel safe with tightbond glue. Other than that I usually use smooth on.

Thanks to all three of you! Greatly appreciate your responses!

Kurt, how thick will your handle be after you slice off the bad part. If it is less than 3/4 thick you will be creating a flex point. A good epoxy is your best bet but If thick enough tightbond should work fine.

Can you put a pic up Kurt? That would help a lot.

If its just the grip area you can slice it down as far as you need to, then layer wood back up to the height you want. If it involves the fades as well, its a bit touchier repair.

I cheat on messed up risers. I have some 2 part epoxy putty that I can shape how I want and then tool it how I want just like wood. I just put a glob on the riser where I need it then cover it with leather.

Kurt TB will work fine for that kind of work, zero flex involved there. Or, like Steve said you can putty it in and cover it with leather. You can also mix up saw dust and TB to make a bondo type filler. Then rasp and sand it to shape after its dried hard. Totally up to you. I run into that situation often with osage and just cut/rasp the grip area down until the tear out is gone. At times I'll add several thin contrasting wood pieces to get a cool look and other times I just fill it back in with a solid block of the same wood. Either way works fine.

And, plan on me being back at Elm Hall this year. Last year was rough on me.

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