This bow was one of my first selfbows that I made. I made this from 2 short pieces of Osage that had been cut and left in a field for close to 20 years.
Out of ignorance, I spliced the two halves together and then put 2 dowels thru the splice trying to make sure that it stayed together. It was never a pretty splice, far from it. As an added sense of making it strong and possibly hold together longer, I backed it with some aged bamboo from behind the house.
As I tillered it and worked the poundage down, I got in a hurry and lost more poundage than I meant to. (inexperience big time)
So, it ended up being about 25#, too light for me but perfect for the wife. The catch was the knot about ten inches or so from the tip of the lower limb. She has shot it off and on for several years but recently, I noticed a crack forming on the belly side (Osage) to the side of the knot.
So, because she really like the bow, I used Gorilla glue to fill the crack and coat the limb before I wrapped the limb tightly. Then afterwards, I went ahead and coated the patch with more Gorilla glue. and allowed it to dry for a couple of days before stringing it and carefully drawing it.
No noises and it looked great, knot and all so I shot several shots and it seems to be doing great. She is happy, she only shoots it a couple times a year.
I had previously made a red oak board bow backed with the same bamboo. My son killed a doe with that bow.
While not as pretty a patch as most will do, this fix will be fine for this light weight bow. On a heavier bow or even a nicer bow, I would have used sinew. Jerry
