Does Red Oak need backing?

[Glenn R.]

I just split a huge red oak trunk, about 3 foot diamater--almost all the staves split out straight--wood just a little more stringy than I thought it would be. Plan on removing all sap wood--using the dark red heart wood only. With a wide limb (2-1/2") and rectangular cross section what would the limit be on poundage for this wood. TBB doesn't have a lot of coverage on red oak but does mention tension problems and backing it with a linen or vegetable fiber. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated--Thanks,  Glenn R.

[Kegan]

First off, I wouldn't take the sapwood off (unless you are splitting belly staves)- unless you want it to look all nice and dark. For staves, the outter ring is alot stronger anyway. Second, with such stout limbs you would probably get a bow pulling over 100# or so. I've made several pretty narrow red oak stave ELB's that pulled a good bit of weight that were unbacked. Boards are jsut the ones that gave me trouble.

Hope this helps

[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

i dont back any of my red oak bows, they are all very strong and bend very well. but i use the first ring under the bark.- Ryan

[Hillbilly]

I would also use the first ring of sapwood under the bark as the back, and you shouldn't need backing. Backing is often done to oak board bows to compensate for the outer ring that was taken off or violated. You don't want to try chasing a ring on oak unless you want to develop psycological problems.  I tried it once and look at me now.

[sailordad]

I would also use the first ring of sapwood under the bark as the back, and you shouldn't need backing. Backing is often done to oak board bows to compensate for the outer ring that was taken off or violated. You don't want to try chasing a ring on oak unless you want to develop psycological problems.  I tried it once and look at me now.

 

[Badger]

Red oak doesn't need a backing any more than any other bow wood. I have watched Tim Baker make several hundred at our monthly gatherings and none of them have failed, all board bows in the 50# range. I have proably made a few hundred red oak board bows myself over th eyears, under rated as a bow wood for sure. Steve

[Hillbilly]

Steve, I remember that red oak-yew bow you made, blew me away.

[Glenn R.]

Everyone, Thanks for the replies, I've never tried or dealt with red oak before but when we dropped this tree late fall/early winter it really caught my eye. Growth rings/latewood is 1/4" or thicker with 1/4 being about the thinnest and some 3/8". I thought oak was slooooooow growing, guess I'm just to use to the thin ringed osage around here. I cut the heck out of black locust this past summer too (also thick rings) and put up about 20 staves in the barn loft. Thanks again.   

[Johnny95]

you can also go to homedepot and buy red oak. you can buy the 1x2x72, but its actually 1.5x.75x72   which is perfect for a bow , but thats just my opinion.

[George Tsoukalas]

Glenn, no it does not automatically need a backing. Johnny, get straight grained stock or walk away. There's an almps perfect board on my site.  Jawge

[ballista]

 i strongly recomend backing it, from my experiece with red oak, it has cracked on every bow that i didnt back, then again they were also on board bows, so the issue could have been in the moisture content, not teh backing aspect- just my two cents. good luck, im looking foward to seeing those bows too- and im sure oak can make some decent arrows if you want to go that route with the oak.   -jimmy

[El Destructo]

                        Never backed an Oak Bow Yet.....except with Snake Skins...and that was for aesthetics only