I picked up a decent Drake Hunter Flite that someone made a small repair to. It appears that there was a small vertical crack on the very edge of the limb that was glue and then sanded. You can see in the picture that some material on the left side of the limb was removed/sanded (there is a very slight concave curve now) where the crack was. There is just the hint of the crack if you look closely. With the crack removed, it appears to me I could string it and shoot it - anyone disagree? Any impact to draw weight/tiller or is it negligible?

Yes I would shoot but if you really feel that strongly about not then don't just because you have a better idea of the issue than your photos show us.

Or put a repair on it maybe?

Put some loctite on it and I'd wager it'll be just fine.

I’m just so happy this question is about a bow I can hardly contain myself!

I'll say no. Only because I've had a bow blow up on me and it hurts!

Yeah, the crack is basically gone. What your seeing in the picture is a drip of glue. Very slight remnant of the crack. I'll wear a football helmet when I string it! ;-)

Only consideration I would have is tiller change if they didn't match the bottom limb. There is plenty of limb there so it should be just fine. I've shot bows that were a lot more buggered-up than that and they stayed together.

As always, thanks for the advice!

Lot of bowyers here it seems.

Check the tiller first. If it is O.K. I would string and draw it some. If it seems solid I would most likely complete the repair before putting in constant use. If material was removed from just one side it might be prone to twisting. >>>----> Ken

How do you check tiller without having the bow strung?

You don't. String the bow to a brace that you can measure tiller. It's actually a simple procedure, just measure from the pivot both down and up to a point at or near the fade out end and measure there. Bottom limb can be anywhere from even with the top to 3/8th or more closer to the riser than the top. (positive tiller).

Sam, you don't need to be a bowyer to tell if a bow is shootable. It's more common sense and a bit of knowledge and experience from shooting a lot of bows, and altering some as well. I feel pretty confident in my ability to know if a bow is shootable or not.

glittergoat, bottom line is if you don't personally have confidence in that bow, then don't use it. You have it in your hands so you can look it over well and go from there. Whether you shoot it or not is your decision, we can't really say what is up about it, only what we see in a photo.

I would shoot it. I've shot quite a few with those types of cracks with no problems. I'd get a longer string to string it first, then gradually draw back and let off, gradually drawing back in increments to full draw; watching and listening. You can also "stop-drill" the crack with a very small bit (you don't have to go all the way through the limb), to help prevent it from growing any. Let us know how you fare with it!

Put a FF string on that baby and shoot it.

2 bears has a good answer and I agree with him, tiller tells you a lot. I would never advise anyone to shoot a Bow with a crack in the limb, ever! Too much at stake and not worth the bow to end up losing an eye or worse.

Why? New bows can be had for $80 shipped. I have a friend that collapsed both lungs because a bow blew up. In that picture, I can see a definite reduction in that limb width, that will change tiller. Hang it up and admire it for what it is.

oscar11 I thought it was understood you have to string it to check tiller. I could have worded that a little better. A weakness in a limb will show up in the tiller. That was my concern with stock removed from one side,that and limb twist. The OP is in a better position to tell with bow in hand. You can safely draw it with a pulley. Then if it seems sound,tiller is O.K., finish the repair and check it out again. When I lower the draw weight on a bow I draw to a min. of 30" 100 times. Then I shoot it as much as I can stand in a session before refinishing it. Sorry for taken so much for granted. >>>----> Ken

No sweat, Ken. I figured you just made a typo. I've had a couple of bows break on me. I'm not the least bit adventurous when it comes to bows with cracks and obvious defects.

I would not shoot it.,

Yup, it'll shoot fine. Get some Locktite 420 and it will be fine.

A stop drill works well in woodworking. I wouldn't trust it in a working limb. It could farther weaken it. Send it to me I always wanted to be a test pilot, no fear. 8^) >>>----> Ken

It's not likely to shoot, or even string up fine unless the string notch on the affected limb was reworked. It appears to me that a considerable percentage of the limb width was removed to make that repair.

If you have the bow in your hand, you can measuer the width of the unaffected limb in the area where the repair was made, then measure the repaired limb and see what the percentage of limb width difference is. if it's more than about 10%, it is going to twist.

The crack or where the crack used to be is the portion that has been sanded out. The small sliver of a crack has already been glued, and what you see in the photo is mostly a "drip" of glue on the riser - gives it a look of a longer crack (reflection off clear glue). The actual crack might be an eight of and inch and extremely shallow. I'm not really concerned with the crack, but do have concerns about how the affected limb when it strung; twisting and having less sprung weight. I'll try to get a close up posted of the crack. Why the fuss? Its a very beautiful Drake and well, doesn't everyone want one of Harry's crown jewels in their arsenal? Otherwise, it does look nice up on the shelf I have it, but I'm hoping its still going to be a shooter. I'll probably string it slowly with a long string to see what happens.

Personally if I wanted to keep the bow to shoot, I would get hold Mike Mecredy or JamesV on here and ask them to re-limb it for me. Either of them can take that riser, and build a new bow with it. And it will be just as good as the original.

I took a straight edge on both sides of the limb that you show in the pic. ,and there are divots on both sides of that limb.If it were my bow I would reduce both bottom and top limbs to the width of the narrowest part of the repair so that the limbs taper like they should from fades to tips.

Don't guess about it. Put it on a tiller tree and exercise it and do the check. If it would blow up you will be back away from it.

I don't think enough has been removed to change anything.Shoot it.

This is my 1959 Howatt that had a glass sliver lifted on the edge of the lower limb 1 1/2" below the fade out. I sanded the sliver until smooth. Then applied a coat of epoxy and sanded out smooth after the epoxy set up. Refinished the whole bow. I have shot this bow a lot, and still shoot it a few every year.

Oops....1955 howatt

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here