newbie red oak board ?s

[knap_123]

if i have a red oak board 66"nn, a handle thats 5"long 1"wide with 2" fades.2"to midlimb and 1/2"at knocks. is this a good bow design?  is the midlimb measured from the center of the handle. or from the fade to the midlimb? and when i wont to add a riser, when do i do this and whats a good wood choice?  also, can you flip the tips and add sinew or bamboo back?

[Jesse]

I think you can glue on the riser right away just cut the fades on it and leave the rest blocky untill you finish tillering. Use whatever wood you want for the riser. You could add a backing but bamboo might be a bit much for the oak. I never tried it.  You might consider just slicing a thin lam from the board and reversing the grain and gluing it back on. Never did that with oak but it works with hickory. If its really straight grain you really dont need a backing. If you want to flip the tips I think its easier without a backing.

[sailordad]

bending the tips with a glued on backing such as boo or hick would need to be done at time of glue up.

[DanaM]

If the grain is questionable a backing of linen or silk will do fine to hold it together, like already said any bending must be done before
applying a backing, as for sinew on a 66" bow I think it would be a waste as the mass of the sinew will offset any performance it
might otherwise contribute. I usually measure mid limb from the end of the fades to the tips. For a riser use a wood that contrasts with the oak. Good luck

[TheWildCat]

  I built a Red Oak Board Bow as an expeirment. Mine is 68" nock to nock. The experiment fer me was , could I use Titebond III and glue Bamboo to the Red Oak. The answer is yes. It worked great. Tillered the bow down to 47# @ 28". I have been shootin it fer a year and a half every week. Actually, the Boo or Hickry will give the bow some extra speed as well. Oak is not a real fast wood, but good and stable ifin its straight. Plus I find it economical to learn with. I mess up every now and then on the tillerin, and have to start a new one. The RedNeck way a learnin!!!
   I would caution though...Ifin ya back with Bamboo...2" is probably too wide...the Boo will over power the Oak. Because of the way Boo grows, when it is bent (assuming you are usin the natural barked boo as a backin) it will put pressure on both edges of the limbs, and could crush the Oak. Ifin I was usin Boo, I wouldn't make the limbs no wider that 1 1/2" at the fade.
   I did build a Pyramid Bow out a a Red oak board with no backin that was 66" nock to nock and it perform great as well. but it was 2 3/4" at the fade. ***NOTE*** I am a old RedNeck, learnin to be a Bowyer, one stick a wood at a time. I have not built many bows, but have one er two goin all the time. I look at every failure as a lesson, and try to learn from it. I have a pile of lessons standin in the corner a my garage!!! There are a lot of actual "Bowyers" on this site, that can give ya some real sage advise. Ya might take mine with the fact that I am a "Apprentice " .

TheWildCat
 

[Hillbilly]

Hickory would be a good choice of backing for red oak. Keep it thin, around 1/8" at the most. Your design sounds good, you could probably get away with 1 3/4" wide at the fades, or do a straight pyramid taper with the fades about 2 1/4" wide tapering straight to 1/2" nocks. Pat has a hickory-backed red oak pyramid that's a good shooter. I usually consider midlimb to be halfway between the fades and nocks-the center of the working limb. When gluing on a riser, make sure that the section you're gluing it to is thicker than the working part of the limbs, or it'll pop off.