silk

[jeffhalfrack]

   question,,,,if  silk  is  a  good  backing,,,,,how  about  two  layers of  silk???   I  plan  on  using  tbIII    reason  I'm  asking  is  I  have  had  bad  luck  w\maple!     since  I  came  here  I've  learned soo  much  Thanks  guys!!!  but  I  have  a  real  nice  maple pyramid  bow  that  is  comming along   great!  I'd  love to  fling  arrows  instead  of  pull  maple  splinters  this  bow  is has  potential  thanks  JEFFW

[Pat B]

One layer of silk is plenty. If you add another layer you are adding extra mass to the limbs which will take away from the cast. If the stave is bad enough that you think you need to add 2 layers then it is probably too bad to make a bow with.

[toomanyknots]

Hey pat, speaking of, I was also thinking of backing a bow with some silk fiber I plan on buying online, since silk is stretchy would there be a chance of creating a draw similar to the smoothness of a sinew bow ya think?

[Pat B]

I don't think silk has the stretch that sinew has. I know silk cloth can be strong enough to overpower a bows belly. I backed an osage recurve with raw silk cloth and that is one on only 2 osage bows that have fretted on me. The stuff I use was very course, loosly woven, black silk. Thinner clothes silk make a great light weight protection backing though.