Rahide bow backing?'s

[whitewoodshunter]

When you back a bow with rawhide and ttb111 should the rawhide be wet or dry? I've used hide glue to apply rawhide but not ttb111. any input would be helpful.

[adb]

You have to soak the rawhide before applying it, so it soft enough to work with. If it's dry, it is too hard. Wet, but not dripping. Let it soak in warmish water until it becomes soft, usually 20-30 minutes. Dry it in a towel, and then apply. Remember, it doesn't add any performance like sinew, it's just a protective backing to eliminate lifting a splinter. Works very well with yew selfbows.

[Rick in AK]

I put my first rawhide backing on my last bow and it actually turned out pretty good.  Like the above post, soaked it in water, applied the TB3, and then glued each end at a time.  Wrapped with a couple of ace bandages and let dry a good full day and removed.  Let dry another day and then scraped/shaved off the excess. 

Lessons learned: 

Go easy on the glue- on my top limb I got it too thick and when I pulled off the ace bandage I could see marks/grooves where the ace was wrapped and the glue was too thick underneath.  Nothing wrong really just a little unslightly. 

Trim the rawhide  a littel more to shape before glueing.  I left it the 2" wide all the way down and at the nock ends it was a little tough to work around the excess material when glueing up.  I think next time I will trim prior to about 1/4'' past the edges of the bow outline to avoid that. 

good luck,

Rick

[Juniper]

Soak that rawhide in warm coffee and it will come out with an awesome golden brown color.