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Author Topic: red oak board for a r/d bow?  (Read 4212 times)

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Offline nashtburke1

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red oak board for a r/d bow?
« on: January 07, 2014, 05:07:50 am »
i was wondering if anyone on here has ever attempted this if so how did it turn out?
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: red oak board for a r/d bow?
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2014, 10:00:33 am »
I made a hickory backed red oak R/D a few years back. It was fine.
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Offline nashtburke1

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Re: red oak board for a r/d bow?
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2014, 03:37:57 pm »
thanks pearl drums would you always back a red oak r/d?
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: red oak board for a r/d bow?
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2014, 03:40:36 pm »
I would, yes.
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Offline nashtburke1

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Re: red oak board for a r/d bow?
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2014, 03:46:00 am »
wou;d you always back red oak because of its tensional strength
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mikekeswick

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Re: red oak board for a r/d bow?
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2014, 04:32:47 am »
I think what Pearlie is saying is that HE would back a ro board.
You don't have to because red oak is very strong in tension. In fact that is it's downfall for most folks! It's tension strength is much greater than it's resistance to compression - this is the reason people regard it as a wood that 'takes set'. If you make a selfbow from it then you should trap the back heavily. Of course it goes without saying that the grain must be straight....
The problem I see is how are you going to get the profile? Dry heat may get you there, steamed will likely pull out during tillering.....If all I had was red oak then I would cut it into lams and get the profile during glue-up.
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Offline nashtburke1

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Re: red oak board for a r/d bow?
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2014, 04:46:48 am »
i was originally going with the dry heat because i dont own a band saw
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blackhawk

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Re: red oak board for a r/d bow?
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2014, 08:02:39 am »
If your new at this skip the R/D profile for now until you are competent at tillering(and keep it straight for now)...otherwise your asking for a headache IMHO...
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Offline nashtburke1

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Re: red oak board for a r/d bow?
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2014, 03:07:41 pm »
ok thank you
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Offline Wooden Spring

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Re: red oak board for a r/d bow?
« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2014, 05:08:03 pm »
Because it's cheap and easily available, I make almost all of my bows out of hickory backed red oak boards. If you're making just a plain flat bow, an 1/8" hickory strip doesn't really add any draw weight to the bow, but it prevents any "less than perfect" oak boards from lifting splinters.

I once took a piece of 1/8" thick x 2" wide x 6' long hickory that I had cut as a backing strip that had countless bad spots in it and tried to break it... I was able to tie the blessed thing into a knot before I heard the first crack. Even then, it didn't lift a splinter, just snapped. This stuff is amazing!

As for an R/D bow, the hickory backing will make the bow hold its shape during glue up. I've not make one like this before, but I've used the hickory to glue in some pre-stress, and its works like a charm. I'm sure "pre-stress" isn't the right term - that's what we call it in the construction industry when a beam is pre-bent in the opposite direction of a load.

Something I've learned recently - make sure your wood is dry! Buy a moisture meter, and be sure your wood is around 6 to 8% moisture content before you start tillering to avoid massive set. I recently have been doing this, and I've brought 3 inches of set down to 3/4 of an inch of set. SCORE!!!! 
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Offline Wooden Spring

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Re: red oak board for a r/d bow?
« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2014, 05:18:23 pm »
Dude, start out with this bow below... I've made about a dozen of these this year for folks to these dimensions, and it's almost foolproof.

Make sure your hickory and oak are clear, and straight-grained. I've been using quarter sawn red oak lately (vertical grain as viewed from the end, like this |||||) and it works great.

Most folks on here say that you can't build a bow from dimensions, but that's not really true. Build your bow this way, and when you get to the tillering stage, you'll only have just a little wood to remove.

This is a GREAT bow. Easy to build, cheap, and fast shooting.
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Offline nashtburke1

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Re: red oak board for a r/d bow?
« Reply #11 on: January 09, 2014, 03:10:01 am »
thank you i will defiantly try it out
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