Unbacked, backed, or scrap?

[Kidder]

So I’m looking at some hickory boards that I have. Some have great grain, and some have, well, character! These pictures are typical of the character boards. I’ve ripped them to 1.75 inches wide. I’m wondering if I can get away with building these unbacked, whether I can build them but need to back them with rawhide, or whether these are purely handle riser boards. Thanks in advance.

[dylanholderman]

i'm by no means a expert with board bows but i don't think that even hickory will tolerate those big knots being violated like that 

[Kidder]

i'm by no means a expert with board bows but i don't think that even hickory will tolerate those big knots being violated like that 

I’m confident I can avoid the actual knots or put them in the handles. I’m more concerned with all the wavy grain on limbs. I should have mentioned that in the original post.

[Pat B]

Save that board for another project and get a new stave for your bow.

[Hawkdancer]

Only have one hickory bow made, but I agree with Pat B!  That would make a heck of a bow rack with a bit of work and hand rubbed finish!  Get a stave with a bit less character for a bow!  IMHO!
Hawkdancer

[bownarra]

Junk for an actual bow....

[Eric Krewson]

Bamboo back them and they will be OK. People will say that runout will fail under bamboo but this hasn't been the case from my experience.

Here is one of my typical bamboo backed osage bows, I have made at least 25 with wonky grain like this and none has ever failed.

[bownarra]

Not all woods are osage though are they!?!? Sage can take abuse that other woods fail under!

[gutpile]

IMO hickory is tougher than osage... as Eric said boo back... gut

[Morgan]

IMO hickory is tougher than osage... as Eric said boo back... gut

I agree! With hickory, You can break more bow making rules and get away with it than you can any wood I’ve seen. Does Osage make a better bow? Yup. Hickory will survive more abuse from the bowyer though imo.

[bownarra]

Ok

[gutpile]

IMO hickory is tougher than osage... as Eric said boo back... gut

I agree! With hickory, You can break more bow making rules and get away with it than you can any wood I’ve seen. Does Osage make a better bow? Yup. Hickory will survive more abuse from the bowyer though imo.

Hummm... not sure about this... maybe in some aspects... if you get hickory under 12% above 9% that is a questionable quote."Osage make a better bow? Yup." Osage is easier to shape with dry heat but is much heavier in hand.. hickory is light as a feather even with more mass and just as quick as osage... that is a tough call... I love hickory but down south with our humidity it is a pain in the butt to keep dry...but when finished it is well worth the effort...Not a good idea to sinew hickory down south either... maybe out west you can get away with it  but not in Ga....gut

[Eric Krewson]

I agree with the hickory will tolerated more anomalies stance, that is why I give any new bow students a hickory stave to learn on.

It has been my experience that grain run outs and ring violations on a hickory stave are not that big a deal. On osage a little runout in the wrong place on a limb is more than likely going to fail. I am talking about selfbows not backed bows.

[George Tsoukalas]

Scrap. With any board you want straight grain lines tip to tip with no knots no matter how small. More on my site. Jawge

http://traditionalarchery101.com

[Kidder]

Well I think I’ll use the mediocre grain and back it with bamboo and the really wonky stuff I’ll use for handle risers. Probably break them all and come back to this post and look at the “I told you so” folks with scorn! Thanks for the input everyone.