Anyway to make this idea work?

[Brent.Mac.]

Hello again everyone,

I have enough hickory boards to last me a while and I've been told that hickory likes to be wide and flat.  Right now I'm working on a shorty 54inch, and I'm  backing it with rawhide. 

Now is there a backing that would allow me to make a ELB style bow out of hickory?  It would be 72inch. Probably around 40lbs and my draw is 28.
Another question, how thin does wood backing need to be?

Thanks in advance
 ~Brent

[Bevan R.]

Rawhide would work for that also.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Bamboo is about the only option that will allow that narrow of a hickory bow.

[Bevan R.]

Bamboo is about the only option that will allow that narrow of a hickory bow.

I do not think the stress on the back of a 6' bow only drawing 28" at 40# is sufficient to require bamboo. That describes most of the bows built in the early 20th century and 'clarified calf skin' was one of the backings of choice.

[paulsemp]

I have made a 70" hick backed hick 65lbs@ 27" .  1 1/8 at handle  to less than mid limb and a steady taper to 1/2 at tips .Flat back rounded belly. Glued it at a 4" reflex holds today 2 reflex with great cast. Never finished bow( just wanted to try it out) but i believe that hick backed hick and hick backed maple can make a great elb. If you have that much hickory try backing it with itself. I plane my backing to 1/8" and by the time i am done sanding it ends up between 1/16 and 1/8

[Pat B]

You can do an ELB style bow with hickory just make it with a flatter belly than the standard ELB. Making as trapizoidal cross section with the belly the wide side would be beneficial for a hickory ELB.

[Brent.Mac.]

Now how wide would you recommend At the tips and handle?

I might make it heavier, but not over 55, I'm new to shooting so I still take a while to aim

For the trapaziod idea, Would I leave the back like angular? or around it off. 

[JW_Halverson]

If you were shooting for a 40# bow like you first mentioned and were going with the ELB design you might want to start with an inch wide at the grip and a straight taper to about 3/8th inch tips.  You might even end up narrowing the handle down to 7/8"! 

With 72" of bow, even if you had a very stiff handle area you have more than enough working limb to accommodate that kind of arc.  If you are uncomfortable with a bare back or you have any concerns about grain issues a little antelope rawhide backing, or even brown paper bag strips would resolve that issue. 

I've turned out a few unbacked hickory ELB's in the 60# range.  Most of them took about 2" of set, so I think I was going too narrow at the 1" handle, consequently to get the weight I had to make them to thick front to back.  I wasn't following the 5/8 rule, just scraping away.  (divide your width by 8, multiply by 5 to get your limb depth, ex: inch wide = 5/8 inch deep).