I bought a bow from a novice bow builder in February. A nice bow! But the other day my son noticed that when the bow is strung, a gap has developed in one of the lamination's for the handle area as it goes into the fadeout area of the handle.
It is bad enough that you can actually see light coming through from the other side. I'm not sure what can be done to fix it but thought I better
write and see if anyone has any experience with such a situation. I have written the guy that built the bow but honesty I know he is learning and don't know what he will offer to do.
It is a nice wood/glass long bow that shoots very nice for my son, I hate to loose it.
Any advice or ideas will be greatly appreciated!

What you should do is contact the bowyer and have him repair or replace the bow for you. From what you described it seems to me that there is either a glue failure or builder error. If the novice bowyer wants to get any farther in the business he WILL make the repair and not charge you anything. After all, you trusted his work enough to buy his product.      Pat

SONAVADA; It sure can be repaired!! I'v done it on 2-3 bows. Have your bowyer PM me & i'll explain thr process. It can be re-glued. Ray

HI guys thanks for the encouragement, I thought I'd add a photo so you guys could see the problem.

Ron,that looks bad, hopefully it can be fixed. What wieght bow is it, maybe I can give your son a loaner.

It's a 53# @28"
Thanks for the thought...

I have one that fits the bill, let me know if you need it.

Wow, right in the riser....looks like the lam above that one is wanting to loose also....


Maybe he will send you a new bow...That would be a lot of work to fix right....

Thanks Dano!!!

I'm not an expert, by any means.  I had that same thing happen to the first one I built.  I used an epoxy that was not suitable in my opinion.  I repaired it with a quality CA (super glue) and heavy clamping.  I also wrapped the section in CA impregnated cord for the new grip.  I would send it back to the bowyer for his advice and recommendations.

Thats a bummer. You being in a low humidity enviroment could have caused some shrinkage. Seen wood do strange things over the years beening a custom finish carpenter/furniture maker. Any time you use wood for anything, Your using an unstable material. Wood, its just trying to be a tree!!!

I would send it back as well.