Osage/Hickory combination questions.

[kevinnator11]

I don't have a really good source for either woods so I bought some dimensional lumber online.  I have Osage which is probably 70"x2"x1/2" and a hickory board that is 72"x1 1/2"x1 1/2".  I was planning to rip a 1/4" strip of the hickory and use it as a backing using TBIII.  I didn't have a choice with grain obviously and the hickory has some runoff. 

My question is will this cause a problem.  I plan to back the hickory with some silk anyways.  I'm shooting for 60# at 30" hopefully for this one.  I've heard great things about this combination and can't wait to start scraping.  I would like to flip the tips by steaming them and was wondering what steps to take.  Do I glue the two first with some reflex and then after that cures flip the tips?  I have no experience with this and don't want to waste the wood.

I'm gonna go with a stiff handled 68 NTN with a 10" handle. 

[JW_Halverson]

Lemme see.  You are backing an osage board bow with a strip of hickory.  But the hickory has some grain runout.  To fix that you are backing the hickory with a little silk.  Is that about it?

As long as you round the edges of the hickory backing and make sure the silk wraps over the side I think you should be able to make a pretty good bow. 

And as always, post lots of pictures!

[kevinnator11]

Lemme see.  You are backing an osage board bow with a strip of hickory.  But the hickory has some grain runout.  To fix that you are backing the hickory with a little silk.  Is that about it?

As long as you round the edges of the hickory backing and make sure the silk wraps over the side I think you should be able to make a pretty good bow. 

And as always, post lots of pictures!

That does about sum it up.  I had great results on my last bow with the silk.  I really liked the ability to get a little creative with the stain and design for the back.  I saw where someone used a feather to camo the back and I think I'm gonna try that this time and try to get a green tint to the bow by watering down some paint.  I'll be sure to post pics as I work it. 

[JW_Halverson]

Excellent, can't wait to see what you turn out!

[DarkSoul]

Can you define "the hickory has some runoff"? What is 'some'? Hickory can take a lot of abuse, but don't expect it to be a miracle wood. Silk can keep a splinter from lifting, but it won't help against excessive grain run off. I really need to see the grain in the hickory (but preferably also the osage) before I can give you any advice. Can you post a picture? I sincerely discourage anyone to order wood without seeing it first; we bowyers are exceptionally picky on the grain and we must be.

There's many factors involved. The bow is 68" NTN, which is somewhat short for a 30" draw. Add a potentially marginal belly grain, questionable backing, first time glue up, stiff handle and stiff tips...it all adds up. There's a lot of possible things that can go wrong. You could get away with one flaw, but if several elements are not up to the standard, the bow might not make it.

[kevinnator11]

I can't post any pics at the moment.  I'm out of town for work and sitting here thinking about how to tackle it when I get back.  I will post some pics before I start.  I really wanted to try the combination and I only have tools for board bows at the moment so I took a chance on it. 

I see what you mean by stiff tips and handle.  I hadn't thought about that.  Might rethink that one now. 

[lesken2011]

Here is a great tutorial that might save you some headaches. While your design may be different, the materials are the same and there is some real valuable stuff that may help.


http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=5129.0

[kevinnator11]

Here is a great tutorial that might save you some headaches. While your design may be different, the materials are the same and there is some real valuable stuff that may help.

That is a great one.  Inner tubes are cheap but I think I may try Weldwood this time instead of tb3.  I've been researching that and it looks like a good product.  I may use some of these ideas but as I'm still developing my tillering skills I think I may stick with a design where I can tiller the whole limb just in case.  Thanks for the link.

[bushboy]

1/2" belly is pretty slight,and you might have trouble getting a handle to stay on!after the glue is cured ,there not much you can do with heat or steam!might try a elm power lam and glue a handle on that,it's great stuff in compression

[kevinnator11]

1/2" belly is pretty slight,and you might have trouble getting a handle to stay on!after the glue is cured ,there not much you can do with heat or steam!might try a elm power lam and glue a handle on that,it's great stuff in compression

How long would the power lam need to be?  I haven't done that before.  Gonna have to do a little research. 

The Osage I have is a bit thin.  I actually have enough hickory to go with just that.  Would that be better than using it for a backing for the thin Osage?  I was gonna rip a 1/8 piece of the hickory for the backing.

[bushboy]

I'll let some of the more experienced guys answer that! For me it's aal an experiment!

[kevinnator11]

Gotcha, thanks though I'm sure you have more experience than I do.

From doing a search on power lams it seems like I need a 1/4" piece x 18" for a power lam.  I'm assuming that I wll need to taper down the ends of the power lam and it looks like the taper should be towards the back.  I'm gonna use a piece of red oak since that's about all i have and try to glue it up with about 3" of reflex. 

Any suggestions welcomed.  I have hickory and red oak that I can use as a power lam.  Just thinking the red oak contrast might look nice in the handle.

[bushboy]

Search for dan perry's "Perry reflex" this will get the wheels turning!

[kevinnator11]

Thanks a lot.  I'll go with your dimensions then and use the red oak for contrast.