I've got a bow I made a couple years back. I glued what I thought was a hickory backing on a pc of hedge. Well it wasn't hickory and eventually started failing. I ran it thru my joiner and took the backing off. I need a pc of hickory to bring it back to life. Willing to buy.
-- Edited by flinttim at 02:09, 2009-01-07
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I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist, nor do I recognize the good of others as a justification for their seizure of my property or their destruction of my life.- Hank Rearden
Dennis, I have a hophornbeam log I have been squirreling away for backing. I think it would be superior to hickory. I just need to figure out how to go from round log to slats. I have a friend that is a very good woodworker and he says we can do it. Just need to get around to it. Several years ago I cut a slat off a stave I had and made a backed bow for my granddaughter (over osage). Of course it was a light bow but it was an r/d bow and the HHB worked very well.
-- Edited by flinttim at 16:42, 2009-01-07
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I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist, nor do I recognize the good of others as a justification for their seizure of my property or their destruction of my life.- Hank Rearden
What would you prefer. I don't know what I have to trade. Everything I have I like. I guess I could send you my top secret catfish bait recipie
Let me see what you think. Tim raised an interesting idea. What do you think would be the best natural backing. I've finally got my form made and a bunch of clamps. One thing that has me wanting to make some composit bows is the advent of Tightbond 3. I like the idea of being able to just go down the road to Ace and get glue. I have one bow glued up with TB3. It's a hickory backed cedar. I've shot it 500 times more or less and it shoots good for it's poundage. I don't know if cedar is tuff enough to be a legitamate huntin bow. Tim also says backed cedar bows have a tendancy to let go without warning.
I know a lot of bamboo bows have been made and they shoot good. Unfortunatly I've seen an awful lot of BBO's that broke. I do know a lot of new bow makers made BBo's. Sometimes their first bow. That might have something to do with it. Anyway large diameter Boo is not readily available.
I would like to find a good reliable tuff backing material that is readily available. Don't say fiberglass DEN
I wonder if anyone ever made a black locust backed bow? They say locust makes a good bow but is prone to crysals. Is that because it's so strong in tension that it over powers itself? How about a BL backed Osage belly bow. Humm Well anyway that's the kind of thing I'm thinking about.
By the way Tim a friend brought me some bueatifully planed clear hickory slats tonight. I think their about 1.5" wide and .125" thick. Let me know if you want me to bring one next week. What do you think would be a good strong, tuff, moisture resistant, easily available, non toxic, nicely figured backing?DEN
Locust is not anywhere near as good as hickory. Just not "stringy" enough if you know what I mean.. Hickory and HHB have very interlocking fibers. That's the secret.. Rawhide is about your best backing from natural material, well that and sinew. But they ain't wood..If you are using a good wood like hedge, just a piece of linen or flax cloth would work fine. Lesser woods like cedar would need the hickory backing to add some speed and strength. Yes I'd take a piece if you are offering and can spare it. I think I have a hedge slat in the shop if you wanna trade.Hedge slat with hickory back would rock.
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I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist, nor do I recognize the good of others as a justification for their seizure of my property or their destruction of my life.- Hank Rearden
Dennis, I went through a "Phase" of making hickory backed cedar bows. They were good, fast shooters, but after a few hundred shots, they would take a set. Still, they were very easy and quick to make.
John I'm thinking about making one with a hickory back, cedar core, hickory belly. That way if it picked up some set you could turn it around and shoot the set back out of it DEN
I'll bring you a slat. It's already to glue, been tooth planed. Long enough for handle material too. The trick to cedar IMO is to make the hickory back as thin as you can. 1/4" will crush the cedar below.The two I made were made with hickory veneer, maybe a 1/16 " thick. One is still shooting out there somewhere as far as I know (50#) and the other a 40# blew up on the guy I gave it to. Truthfully I think the backing was really pecan and it let go. Good clear , white hickory sapwood backing is best. I'd put plenty of reflex in it when gluing it up. This would move the neutral plane deeper in the belly. I think it would last longer that way. Now, we are talking about Eastern Red Cedar, right ? That western stuff is crap for bows.. I'd really like to try a sinew backed cedar some time. That would be about perfect IMO.
-- Edited by flinttim at 16:48, 2009-01-09
__________________
I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist, nor do I recognize the good of others as a justification for their seizure of my property or their destruction of my life.- Hank Rearden
Well it depends on whatcha want. I have a stack of about 150 hickory slats around 2" wide and various thicknesses(1/8" to 1/2") sitting in the garage stickered in stacks and stood in the corners. That stuff is rough sawn and not the greatest as far as cutting it with the grain goes. I think it would make great handle lams and belly pieces. I haven't tried it for a backing strip yet.
There are pics in the TBB that show a hickory bow with a buncha grain run out that wasn't breaking so I don't know if it would work with a backing strip or not. I have 4 or 5 strips that follow the grain pretty well and I believe they are sanded one side. They would be a bit more expensive. 3 rivers sells 'em for $20 plus shipping.. I dunno, I'm in trouble with the wife already for doing so much archery trading lately.( Using the budget for shipping costs) Can you wait til Morgantown or are you jones-in too hard? Maybe I could get one to Jim Critney and he could bring it down to a shoot for ya.
That's a load of hickory. I would build a smokehouse if I was you I'm in no big hurry. I'm not even sure how much I'll use. There has to be some kind of learning curve with glued up bows. I've made a few but with this new setup I'll have a lot to figure out. I mostly figure things out by making mistakes I'm not sure how much the grain being off would hurt but it always helpes to have the best materials to work with.DEN
Theres a steep learning curve with lam bows Dennis. I thought I'd crank out 5 or six last summer didn't get one finished the way I wanted. Have one that will make a kids bow. I built a Torges style clamping set up ( hunting the bbo bow) to add reflex and deflex. Its still a challenge just keeping things straight and unwarped. Ya gotta make sure ya got everything ready to go before you pour the glue. Especially TB3 it starts to set up relatively quick. I'd recommend a cheap paint roller maybe 2" wide to distribute glue. Slogging it around on the wood with yer fingers takes alot of time. You lemme know if ya need some hickory quick like. I can send some to ya. Otherwise we can set something up for Heartland. Chris
DEN
Well anyway that's the kind of thing I'm thinking about. 
DEN
I'm not sure how much the grain being off would hurt but it always helpes to have the best materials to work with.DEN
