question aboute the back of the bow..

[akila]

Hi guys i have seen something on some site that i wass loking at,and i have a question for you, and some pictures.This is a piece of ash board, and my problem is this...usuly whenn i make a bow from a board, the part of the wood that is on top will be the back of my bow...here is the picture..

My question is....can i make the back of my bow with the part of the wood that is now on top???

Im asking this becose i have read this somewhere, that you can make a bow with those paralel grains on the back of the bow...whatt do you think plz...?I have made 2 bows from boards and i have make themm like in the first picture i have post it here...im a little confused here, becose it seams so much easey to cut the  wood like in the second picture, and not to have so much work to do with chasing a ring,and all that trouble...

[Eric Garza]

You can make a bow either way, but in my experience it is easier to follow the grain of the wood when you chase a ring and have that ring be the bow's back.

[jamie]

when teaching i use edge grained ash. its easier to find in quantity . trouble with trying to build a highend bow with it is you need to make it wider because you now have a lot of pourous spring growth running through the board. peace

[akila]

when teaching i use edge grained ash. its easier to find in quantity . trouble with trying to build a highend bow with it is you need to make it wider because you now have a lot of pourous spring growth running through the board. peace

THks i think i understand it...you mean that iff i use the edge grain as my back of the bow ,thenn the back of the bow will also have porous ring on it, and its not like whenn you chase a ring, and the back is one single ring with no porous rings rouning on my bows back..

[adb]

Hi,
If you're going to go with the edge ring, back it. Hickory or boo... even rawhide will work.

[akila]

Hi,
If you're going to go with the edge ring, back it. Hickory or boo... even rawhide will work.

yess i see...but whatt i need it to know is iff it will hold on a bow made like this...without baking..or something like that.Thks for replay...

[George Tsoukalas]

That stave is going to need some work. I would not go with the quarter sawn side on that  either. There's too much grain run off and you will run into trouble when doing the side taper. You could possibly chase a ring on the back. I would also chase a ring on the belly to straighten out those grain lines on the edge of the board. I think that is your best bet. Have I confused you? There's more info on my site. Jawge
http://mysite.verizon.net/georgeandjoni/archer.html

[akila]

No you did not confused me but i want to know something els.....i know that this piece off wood in the picture is not verry good, my question is pure theoreticly...iff it can be made a  back of a bow using that side for the back of the bow....with no backing at all, and offcourse iff the board have straight grains with no runn ofs...

[DanaM]

Edge grain with no run offs will make a unbacked bow but as jamie said with ash keep it wide.
Why not just back it with something?

[George Tsoukalas]

Yes, Akila, it will make an unbacked bow provided you bring the back to one growth ring and do the same on the belly. Do you see in that first picture where there are some rings violated. Take them off and you should be ok. Then do the same on the belly. If you would rather you could back it with rawhide or linen. You would need a string backing. The rings wander around too much to make an edge grained board bow. Look at the second picture and visualize what would happen on the edges when you do the width taper. Too many weak spots would result.

[akila]

Yes, Akila, it will make an unbacked bow provided you bring the back to one growth ring and do the same on the belly. Do you see in that first picture where there are some rings violated. Take them off and you should be ok. Then do the same on the belly. If you would rather you could back it with rawhide or linen. You would need a string backing. The rings wander around too much to make an edge grained board bow. Look at the second picture and visualize what would happen on the edges when you do the width taper. Too many weak spots would result.

Thks..George..and all of you that have replay to me...i dont intend to do a bow like this with the edge grain be my back of the bow...i wass just asking iff its posibile to do this with a good piece of board, who have straight grain...i personaly like the clasic method..with chasing a ring and all that stuff.I just read that somewhere and i wass a little confuse..iff its realy posibile to use edge grain for the back of the bow.right now i have an ash board that have pretty straight grain in her, but on bouth ends the grain runn of a little.Anyway thks a lot for replays...its good to know that its posibile to use those edge grain for the back...offcourse iff its straight..

[George Tsoukalas]

Akila, I've never chased a ring on a board. I look for straight grained boards both on the face and edge. Edge grained boards are not my favorite for board bows. Jawge