hickory and red oak?

[stringstretcher]

How well will a hickory backed red oak bow hold up and perform?  And what design best suits these woods?

[nlester]

Not sure what others will say, but from my own experience and what I've read, backing red oak with hickory is not a good combination unless you get the hickory pretty thin.  Hickory is just stronger than red oak and can potentially overpower it.  I think a lot of people back red oak with red oak.  There will be someone on here soon that is much sharper at this than I am.  They'll be able to tell you for sure.  This is JMO

[PEARL DRUMS]

I have made three HBRO bows and all three are fine still. Make the back quite thin Chuck. Say 1/16" or so. I would suggest hickory backed hickory though! Im a red oak hater for bow wood to be quite honest with you.

[Buckeye Guy]

Don't be such a hater Pearly !!

[paulsemp]

I have made three HBRO bows and all three are fine still. Make the back quite thin Chuck. Say 1/16" or so. I would suggest hickory backed hickory though! Im a red oak hater for bow wood to be quite honest with you.

i have made one and it is ok, but i agree pearl drums on his whole post!

[Slackbunny]

what about red oak backed hickory?

[Pat B]

I've had mixed success with hickory backed red oak. One bow is a pyramid style, 63 1/2" t/t, 2 1/2" at the fades with a straight taper to 1/2" tips. 53#@28"  This bow is vertually industructable. I have let anybody and everybody shoot it and it is still going strong after almost 7 years.
  I built another that was 1 3/4" at the fades and half way out the limb before tapering to 3/8" tips. This one was a dog and never shot well plus took plenty of set. I don't even remember what happenedcto it. 
  When I make hickory backing strips I cut them out at 3/16" and after sanding the saw marks out of both sides they usually come out 1/8" or slightly less. I have never had a hickory backing over power any belly wood I have used. Hickory makes an excellent backing. I like it better than boo.

[Peacebow_Coos]

I'd listen to these guys more than myself, but I tried it once, about 54" ntn, reflex deflex with severe deflex.  It was a real nice zippy bow, but lifted a splinter on the hickory back!!!  I ended up glassing it and gave it away, don't know if it ever broke but the buddy I gave it to was scared of it and gave it away too!!!  Kinda hurt my feelers, but I still don't know what ever happened to that thing.  It'd fling one though.

[Jude]

Slackbunny, I would consider backing a red oak bow with hickory to get a bow that performs better in high humidity.  Hickory is extremely strong in tension, and the cross-linking of the fibers allows it to put up with a level of ring violation not possible with other woods, so it makes really good sawed backing.  However, it loses it's compression strength in high humidity, and can take alot of set if you don't keep it dry.  If you were to back hickory with red oak, you would get a bow that takes alot of set in high humidity, and has very little strength in tension, so is likely to fail on the back.  It would capitalize on the weaknesses rather than the strengths of the woods.  I would like to try hickory backed cherry some time.