Cable backed bow lashing tips.

[autologus]

I am about to start a new project after I get my trade bow shipped out and was wanting to try a cable backed bow.  I have done a lot of searching and reading but the lashing has me puzzled.  Are there any tips on lashing the cable with the soldier hitches and when to wrap the cable and such.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  I have a quartersawn white oak board but the last two I tried from it ended up breaking so I really don't have anything to lose and if it holds together great if not it is experience and a retreat from the craziness of the world.

Grady

[Pat B]

Grady, contact Rich(halfeye). He sent me a cool cable backed bow a few years ago.

[JonW]

I think Patrick has done one as well. I know you better start making the sinew cordage now and by the end of the month you may have enough

[autologus]

Yeah I don't think so, nylon masons twine will be fine with me. 

Grady

[tattoo dave]

I made one a few years ago, just used art sinew for the cable. Twisted it up like a regular bow string. Seemed to work just fine. Thought about adding a cable to my trade bow, to add a few pounds. Still may do that. Looking forward to seeing it when you get it done.

Tattoo Dave

[fiddler49]

I used nylon mason's line a few times. I tried a different method of tying the cord on to the bow limbs. I tied a wood toggle on each end of one limb then wrapped mason's line around toggles nice and tight. Then put a short
piece of flat wood between the bundles and twist up very tight. You can now tie the bundle to the limb every few inches. The toggles make making twin bundles very easy. I used short pieces of 5/16 oak dowel. I did this on a   
straight hickory long bow I was already shooting so I knew the draw weight and how well it shot so I was very surprised that draw weight did not change at all and the bow was shooting slower. I think it would work if you got the cable away from the bow back with bridges and reflexed some. If you think about it, the nylon or even the sinew which is supposed to have about the same stretch properties is much more stretchy than wood fiber
and the the extra distance the cable must travel while bending around the out side of the gentle curve of bow limbs is almost nothing, maybe a few millimeters. I have seen a few cable backed bows in the museum here in Alaska and they were very short and the tips were reflexed and they had wood bridges under cable.
If the Golden Gate bridge instead had the cables laying on the bottom side of the bridge and secured every few yards it wouldn't stiffen up the road way at all. But if you hang the cable a ways below the road in a natural arc
and put solid bridges between the road and the cable it would hold the road way up. The only problem is the extra weight of the solid bridges versus the lighter cable that is being used to hang the weight from the top.
Maybe the cable directly on a bow back just raises the neutral plane of compression and tension in the wood limb so that most of the wood is now under compression. Alaska in general has terrible bow wood and most of the cable backed bows I saw were made from drift wood along the coast.  cheers fiddler49

[simson]

here is a example with B50:
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,40525.0.html

[autologus]

Thanks, Simon I have studied that bow, Rich's, and Swamp Monkey's extensively.  I think I am kind of figuring out the lashing so hopefully it will turn out ok.  I have to say that cable backed ERC is one of the most amazing bows I have ever seen, it is beautiful wood and can make excellent bows if backed properly.

Grady

[JackCrafty]

If the cable is made of something that can be glued to wood, just glue the ends down for about 3 inches and wrap it with cordage/sinew coated with glue.  That's what I do.

If the string is made of nylon or dacron (translation: difficult or impossible to glue to wood) then make loops in the ends and attach like a bowstring in reverse.  It looks like Rich's bow needed some wrap at the nocks prior to applying the bowstring to prevent splitting.  I haven't made one with an artificial string but if I do, I will wrap the tips before putting on the cable.

[autologus]

I will probably do a rawhide wrap on the ends, I am still researching and deciding on what type wood I will use.  I have read "A Study of the Eskimo Bows in the U.S. National Museum" and found it very useful along with the detailed drawings on the 3 "types" of Eskimo bows.

Grady