Maple for a bow

[amberb_57]

I was just looking at Cameroo's maple bow pictures, very nice!  Does maple have to be worked the same way as other woods, following a ring on the back?  It's easy enough with oak and ash, but maple is harder to see the rings on.

[sulphur]

like most white woods, just remove the bark and there's the back of your bow.  for a board bow the normal rules apply for picking a board stave, straight grain on the side of the board is ideal.

[Cameroo]

I believe that with a board bow (someone can correct me if I'm wrong), you want the grain running lengthwise, but perpendicular the the face and belly of the bow, in otherwords, a quarter sawn board.  Just watch that you don't have more than one or two runouts along it's length.  If in doubt, just throw a backing on it.  The rawhide on mine worked awesome.

[amberb_57]

Cameroo, what kind of rawhide did you use for your backing?  I assume it needs to be thin?

[bubby]

I've used quarter sawn and plain sawn, both work great if good boards

[Cameroo]

It was deer rawhide, and yes, it was quite thin.  You have to watch when rasping that you don't catch the edge from the belly side or it will lift the backing.  A good precaution is to file from the back side toward the belly.

[Cameroo]

I guess an even better precaution is to not touch it with a file or rasp, just sandpaper.

[Story Teller]

One of my earliest bows was a maple-backed walnut-belly bow, both pieces from boards.  I didn't have the luxury of chasing a single ring through the maple so I backed it.  It held up for 4 years of practice and hunting in everything from 90-degree to below freezing weather.  Eventually the glue gave out, but the maple remained strong.  Sometimes you can find maple boards where you can chase a ring, I'm sure, but I haven't had much luck with that in any maple boards I've picked up.  Backing is an easy remedy (especially if you want to dull the bright color anyway).  Anyway, that is my amateur's insight.

Regards,
Story Teller