red oak board bow

[ThomasJ2352]

Greetings to the group....first post I think....I have made a couple oak bows in the past and both have been right around 40 lb @ 28"...
one broke but using the other regularly....just picked up a new board for a new bow....may use fiberglass as a backing..(hope thats not
too un-traditional  )..i'm looking for around 55-60 lbs but am not sure what length would be best....70"...80"...90"?
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Tom

[alwayslookin]

Well fiberglass is not traditional a better choice for trad would be a rawhide backing. I'd say 68 inches is a good length for minimal set. No need to go longer than that and people go shorter as well.

[Willibow]

I've had great luck backing red oak board bows with rawhide.  Mine have all been bendy handle and about 64" nock to mock length, starting about 1-7/8" at the fades and constant taper to a little under half inch at the nocks.

Just make sure to wash the rawhide really well using dish detergent to get all the grease off. Mine came from my deer last year and the first bow had glue issues because some small amount of grease remained on the rawhide when it was applied.

Good luck! Post pictures!

[Aries]

Although the majority of my work has been with osage I have made a couple of board bows that were really good shooters. After digging through both lowes and home depots piles of boards I came up with two good boards and a lot of bewildered looks from employees... The better of the two turned into an unbacked 72 inch pyramid flat bow. I took the full 2 inches wide at the handle and down to 3/8 inch at the tips, it ended up just shy of 50 pounds at 27" and took around 1 inch of set during tillering, it was a fun bow.

Do everything you can to keep from going to the dark side... I'd avoid fiberglass. You can make a great bow without it, and learn more on the way in my opinion.
Good luck!

[ThomasJ2352]

great....thanks for the input....I spent about an hour at Lowes and HD doing the same thing yesterday....found a good one though....
regarding fiberglass...on the ones I built earlier I used many layers of fiber-based sheetrock tape/cloth....seemed fine until.....craaaaack....
then grrrrrrrrr....I fixed the one I'm currently using with fiberglass so thats why I'm thinking that way....rawhide sounds great...just don't know
where to get some.....I am surprised that nothing longer than 72" was mentioned...
thanks again,
Tom

[Badger]

  You don't need any backing just pick a straight board with no grain runouts.

[Willibow]

Google "cheap rawhide backing" and the first video that comes up is a good source. A lot of people seem to have good luck using large rawhide dog bones as a cheap source, though I've been lucky enough to have rawhide from hunt harvests since I started making bows.

Or, Like badger said, no backing is needed if it's a board with near perfect grain. Don't skimp on this otherwise your chances of success without a backing will be way low. Make sure there is NO grain runout.

[GB]

I've only made one red oak board bow (my 3rd bow, took a lot of set and a slug speed wise) but it was unbacked and didn't break.  Then I found a local lumberyard that sold hickory and hard maple and an online source for osage slats (cue the Hallelujah chorus  ) so I haven't tried red oak again.  If nothing else, I'd worry that FG backing would crush the belly fibers and make red oak fret.  IMO FG is a nasty thing to do to a nice wooden bow, but to each their own.  Echo Archery sells nice rawhide backing for a nice price as well.  George T has a lot of good info on his site about red oak board bows, too.  Agree 100% about avoiding the dark side and good luck with your bow!

http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/boards.html

[Willibow]

Sorry for going off subject, but do you mind sharing your Osage slat source, GB? I'm located in northern NV and getting quality wood can be a difficult thing to do!

[Badger]

  I need to post some pics tomorrow. I am working on a red oak medley. I started last week. I have a deflex reflex self bow, a molly, and getting ready to start an elb and a bend through the handle flatbow. I never use backings and have made hundreds of red oak board bows. When people ask me for a bow and they don't kinow the difference I always give them a red oak board bow. Bandsaw, belt sander specials and they shoot about as good as any other bow.

[JW_Halverson]

  I need to post some pics tomorrow. I am working on a red oak medley. I started last week. I have a deflex reflex self bow, a molly, and getting ready to start an elb and a bend through the handle flatbow. I never use backings and have made hundreds of red oak board bows. When people ask me for a bow and they don't kinow the difference I always give them a red oak board bow. Bandsaw, belt sander specials and they shoot about as good as any other bow.

Call them Aggressively Decrowned Oak stave bows.

[bubby]

If you do use non natural materials post it in around the campfire its ok there and remember we like pics

[Dakota Kid]

I used to use mesh drywall tape when I was first starting after I broke more than a few. It helped until I got a little better at tillering and wood selection. If you ever use it in the future I suggest using a single layer of tape and tite bond 3 to adhere it. From what others have told me multiple layers of mesh will actually cause the bow to fail. I still have that red oak board bow. In fact, I dusted it off and shot it this evening and still like the way it shoots. It was around 50# @ 27" and 63" ntn and ended up with about 1.5" of set after break in. It wasn't my first "successful bow", but it was my first good one.

I'd post a pic but the digital camera I made from rawhide, antler and sinew doesn't capture images that contain non-traditional materials.

[bubby]

Kid i was just leting him know where to post, just read the rules bud

[Dakota Kid]

I know. Just bustin chops