Combed fiber backing??'s

[HickoryBill]

Anyone ever try combed fiber, like flax hemp or twine, glued on with titebond3 as a bow backing. I saw it in volume 1 of the TBB. And if so what woods does it work on. Thinking about trying it on ERC?

[aznboi3644]

I can't find raw flax/hemp fiber around here so I split my hemp string into threads and glued it on sinew style...works very well.

[HickoryBill]

aznboi3644....What kind of wood was the bow?

[half eye]

Hickory,
      I've used hemp twine as is, running tip to tip, applied with TBII and sealed with the same stuff. Worked real good. Still have pics of that bow, the finished product looked a lot like bark when it was done.
      Hope that helps.
rich

[HickoryBill]

THANKS  halfeye. I'm just kinda worried about using it on ERC. Because it's compression weak. The back will be really strong. I thought maybe that would cause the belly to compress more. Not good for a compression weak wood.

[half eye]

I did not notice any great increase in performance like ya might get with sinew or similiar, I was using it to allow a short bow to draw farther (prevent sliver lifting) and it worked well for that. I'm not sure you would crush the belly with it, as it has a certain amount of "give", especially if applied as long yarns. JMO though.
rich

[aznboi3644]

it was on a 57" hickory bow.  It had pretty horrible grain run off and held at 40lb at 26".  Heat treated it and put the backing on to prevent any splinters and to hold the bow together in case of an explosion.

My gorilla friend drew it Superbowl Sunday to 30" and scared the crap outta me...heard a few ticks...coulda been then fibers stretching.  Bow was only meant to draw 26" lol.

[tattoo dave]

Hi Bill, I've backed a couple bows now with flax. One walnut, and one maple. The walnut one broke, it broke but the fibers held it in one piece. I'm pretty sure it was because it was to thin to start, not because the flax overpowered the belly. I haven't seen any performance benefits yet, but it does seem to add a nice layer of security to the back.

[Bevan R.]

Hi Bill, I've backed a couple bows now with flax. One walnut, and one maple. The walnut one broke, it broke but the fibers held it in one piece. I'm pretty sure it was because it was to thin to start, not because the flax overpowered the belly. I haven't seen any performance benefits yet, but it does seem to add a nice layer of security to the back.

What glue did you use? I have some flax I bought and will be backing something with it & I was thinking of just using TBII. I do not want to use TBIII because of the dark color.

[Pat B]

A few guys at the Classic last year backed their bows with flax fibers and TBIII.  I think they came out pretty good. I've never tried fiber backings but I have heard that flax, because of its lack of stretch, can overpower the belly on some woods. With good tillering and not too much backing you should be OK.
  Raw flax can be bought from weaver suppliers. I had some a few years ago that someone gave me. Unfortunately is was stored improperly and was contaminated with a spilled bottle of gun oil. 
  The backing does look pretty cool. White carpenters glue will work fine and dries fairly clear so it doesn't distort the color.  White carpenters glue works as well as any other carpenters glue(TBII, TBIII) for rawhide and skins and for fiber backings.

[tattoo dave]

I used TBIII, that was what I had at the time. Worked fine, but like you said, the color is pretty dark. Looks cool if you don't mind the rough texture, PRIMITIVE look .  I have a bunch of it left, so I will more than likely be backing a few more bows. It also works great for wrapping arrowheads and nocks.