Board bow plan Started. Need some opinion.

[ionicmuffin]

So ive joined the board bow trade, and i was thinking, if i wanted to make a semi high reflexed tips and maybe also heat treat it what backing would work well? i was thinking hemp wouldn't be so bad? what would qualify as flax? i read in the TBB I that flax can keep a backing from breaking and can literally keep a bow together even if there is a lot wrong with it(crystals ect.) what do you guys think? any backing that would get the job done? im thinking of just doing a few test bows to see what effects i will get and such so its not a big deal if i dont get it right on the first try.

[paulsemp]

I think that red oak can be  fragile. IMO the best design is a simple flat bow that is long with no little or no reflex. I am willing to try things on bows I shoot but bows for someone else I sleep better knowing that there is little chance that it will BLOW apart in their face. Simple with a backing of any sort should do the job.

[Pat B]

With the right board stave no backing is necessary. If you need a backing I think rawhide is hard to beat as well as silk, linen or even brown grocery bag paper. Flax(raw linen fibers) and hemp fibers will make a good backing but are a lot more work and they can even overpower a bow if you are not careful.

[ionicmuffin]

so maybe something like a burlap sack? The reason i would be testing to see what works is so that when i figure it out i can safely say that the bow will not explode. Ive heard a lot of people say that after about 400 arrows are through it its on the safer side of things. Do you think it would be better to do all my experimentation with cheap cloth and stuff, and then when im ready to make the final bow i can use rawhide or something. i really want to try something like this because ive been doing flat bows for a while, so to do something more complex would be interesting and fun. I would never give someone a bow that i wasnt sure would hold up to thousands of shots going through it, besides, i have 6 months to get the bow done, so i think that i have way more experimentation time that ill need.

[Pat B]

No backing will keep a cruddy bow together. The backings are primarily insurance but not a sure thing. I haven't made a board bow in years but I think unless you have a perfect board you will have problems trying to heat bend it to shape without raising splinters. Even tree staves will splinter if you are trying to bend it too much(ie. recurves).
  Any of the backings I mentioned can be cheap and are easy to apply. You would be amazed how strong brown grocery bag paper is when applied with a glue like TB or even Elmers white glue. Paper is made from wood fibers. The silk or linen can be bought cheaply at a thrift store as a womans blouse or slacks. Burlap will work but IMO if it is saturated with glue it will add lots of unnecessary physical weight to the limbs, slowing their recovery and possibly adding hand shock.

[Zion]

I would personally experiment with different designs you want to try. Perhaps the board will break, but then you can tell what you can and can't do. If you were to try something like adding recurves to a board, though, i would do this early in the process, and leave the wood very generous... you will be lucky if a splinter does not lift, but it won't be a problem if the board is thick enough. A good way to bend thick wood is to steam it extensively, and bend it in multiple steps. Adding 4" recurves the first try will definitely not go over well.

[Bryce]

Linen is probably the easiest

[Ifrit617]

I would go simple and sweet like Paul said. Every high performance design I have made from red oak has chrysaled before 1000 shots. My tillers were pretty decent.

I would go for a simple flat bow design with no reflex or curves. I built one this past week that has taken only 7/8" set. and i was dead straight when I began working on it. A good tiller and a good safety margin is necessary for red oak to las in my opinion.

Jon

[ionicmuffin]

I hear what your saying, i did a search on google and found this sweet looking bow. http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,24411.0.html
my goal in adding recurves is not to maximize performance necessarily. its more about making it a sweet shooter, which from all ive seen and heard recurves seem to do a good job of that. there are some EXCELLENT strait bows as well, In my opinion the recurves would be like a challenge to me, i would have to work slow and get the hang of it. i especially want to get use to it since i want to do some recurve work with hickory staves later.

[Pat B]

Also remember that recurves add a lot more stress to the limbs. They force the limbs to flex more than straight limb bows.

[ionicmuffin]

Thats true. ive thought about that. I realized that maybe some of the bows ive build have been OVER built.  i figure thats mostly because if it get it at a nice tiller i just dont want to change it. ive stopped doing that recently and just kept removing wood till its all set. ill keep that in mind(more stress on limbs) when i do some experimenting.

[Pat B]

Did you note how wide Josh's limbs were? That would be the key to dealing with the extra stress. A pyramid limb distributes the stresses over a larger area.

[ionicmuffin]

yep, i will be making them extra wide just to help with the stress. maybe i can try to make a duplicate design or something. i was really impressed with that bow.