how to correct string follow or set

[Pat B]

Riley, you should only need one layer of backing. I'd go with silk, linen or burlap. Three layers will only add extra physical weight to the limbs and slow the bow down.

[VenomBOWslinger]

You could sinew the back too also red oak is not weak in my opinion I have seen high poundage ELB made from it but backed with linen.

Russ

[George Tsoukalas]

Ok, let me try this again. My wife says I'm grumpy in the morning. I think she's right. LOL. Red oak is a very good bow wood. You just need to design it properly for your needs. You bow at 1.5 in is too narrow for 70# and a huge draw length. That's all.
You can add all the backing you want. You'll just compound (pun intended) the problem. I know. I know. You don't like set. I don't either.  But you got it. BTW my first bow had 5 in of set. So what? It shot well. Enjoy your bow as is. For the time you spent  talking about it and trying to "fix" it you could have made a couple of board bows. If you want to make a 70# red oak board bow choose a straight grained stave. I mean straight. No run outs. Make it wide. At least 2 inches and may be wider. If you want a a non bending handle of 7 in go at least 72 in  tip to and 74 in ntn would be better. Make sure you add the glued on handle from the beginning and make sure when you tiller the tiller taper extends into the board itself. If you make a bend in the handle bow you can go shorter and narrower. One more thing. The amount of weight you can get out of a bow is really related to how good the grain structure is. Get TBB#2. Tim does a great job of explaining that. I need another cup of coffee. Jawge

[Orkraider]

Hey thanks again, guys. More great answers and info.

George, I'm always glad to read your posts, and although I'd never disagree with anyone's wife (mine has trained me well) you don't come off as grumpy to me.

I'm  a bit interested in fixing whatever I can fix with this bow, but I"m more interested in finishing it, and finishing it as right as I can.

I've not always been the best at finishing things, and that's one of the things I"m working on.

Now, when you said in your earlier post that you were confused at the dimensions of the bow for the draw weight, I promise you, I was way more confused. I have no idea what I'm doing, and it's exciting! But thanks to all the good info on here, I'm working on getting rid of some of that confusion.

Now, I'm going to be swinging by menards today to pick up some stuff to put the finishing touches on this bow, i.e. sandpaper, polyurethane, some cord for the grip, etc.

While I'm there, I'm going to be looking at what wood they've got for my next bow.

How wide can I go? If 2 inches or more is good, would 3 inches be even better? 4? And as far as length, can I go up to 7 foot? or would that just be crazy? Granted, I'm all about crazy, and the thought of making a huuuuge bow puts a big smile on my face.

Last but not least, I know they have some other wood there that's not to expensive. I've looked at the mahogony that cost onlly a bit more than the red oak, and often wondered if that would be good.

I read some stuff about white oak that sounded interesting, but I don't recall if they have it in stock there.

I'll post more on here later today.  Also, I just made a deal on craigslist to trade coffee for a belt sander. woohoo!

Riley

[Gordon]

If 2 inches or more is good, would 3 inches be even better? 4?

No, there is a fine line between preventing set and needlessly adding mass (which reduces limb efficiency). See Steve's chapter in TBB v4 on the Mass Principle for more explanation.

[Orkraider]

ok, will do.

Boy, when I started on bow number one, I remember thinking, "I can put that together for under 20 bucks, that's way cheaper than buying a bow!"

After today's trip to menards, I'm no longer saving money. But I've never enjoyed myself more. =)

[Gordon]

You won't save much money by making only one bow. The unit cost goes down when you make lots of bows. But then, of course, you end up with more bows than you would ever purchase so you still don't save anything. But your friends will 

[Lombard]

Gordon, I think I may be following a trend then.

[orcbow]

Last but not least, I know they have some other wood there that's not to expensive. I've looked at the mahogony that cost onlly a bit more than the red oak, and often wondered if that would be good.

I checked out the "mahogany" at menards a while back, even bought the nicest 1x2 the had. But when I did some research I learned that the wood is actually a "Meranti". Luan plywood is the most common type we see, there is a group of 2 or 3 species, and they vary from light in color to deep red. The heaviest of these is called  dark red Meranti, and with a Specific Gravity of up to .60, but it can vary, and go  as low as .30 for the light red Meranti. The piece I tried ended up freting easily and in the end the bow exploded on the tree, it was really too short anyway. So I would recommend caution with the Menards Mahogany. At best try only a piece that feels heavy compared to the rest. Otherwise stick with good ol' American Red Oak, it's really a great choice for stave shopping at a building material store. I would try a backed cherry or walnut 1x2 before the  "mahogany", but you probably won't get 70#+ with them. Good luck, and enjoy that shooter that you have made!

[Orkraider]

Lol, Gordon, I surely hope so. Once I start getting a little bit of a handle on this bow making thing, and can turn out something that I"m not ashamed to have seen, my next 3 bows are spoken for. =)

Thanks for the tip, Orc (orcs for the win, yo!) .

I spent more time looking at the wood at Menards; I think my next bow isn't going to be built using a 1x2" piece.

My landlord mentioned a place nearby that sells nothing but wood, 'specially stuff that you might not use to frame a house. He said they're "wood geek friendly", and will do cuts for free even if you're only buying a little bit.

I'm going to check them out, and do some more reading on what kind of not too expensive wood I can get, and what dimensions, for another board bow.

Today, however, I've got about 5 hours of daylight before I have to head in to work; I'm going to spend it flinging sticks with this bow and seeing if it breaks.

Riley

[Orkraider]

Well, I took this bow out to my alley and shot it about 30 times.

I'm pretty darned happy with how it turned out.  My ignorance is bowmaking is only surpassed by my ignorance in archery, lol. The whole reason I wanted to make a bow in the first place was so I could learn how to use it.

So far, it's working out really slick. With the first bow I made, the arrows were going all over the place, high, low. off to the left, you name it. This one, they're going straight to the target I marked out on the big old tree. Not zinging to the left or right, not too high or low, very flat trajectory, and a super smooth release.

When I put the backing on last night, I ended up using one layer of nice thick linen that I got at the fabric store for a song, (they'll sell you an 1/8 of a yard! for cheap!!) and a layer of lightweight decorative fabric that has a nice dark green spotted pattern, looks almost exactly like the fish skin (halibut?) backed bow that someone posted.

It sure feels like that added a little draw weight; I haven't put it on the scale yet, but it's right at the limit of what I can pull and not have everything shaking like crazy.

I just stumbled across an old web cam, if I can find a usb cable, I'll put some pics up in a few.

Riley

[crooketarrow]

   Everyones right 3 inch is alot and it does slow your bow down.It's over stressed limbs or wood sells.Some people say a little's find.I don't see it.I build mine with none or very little.How many glaas bows built by some fine bowyers.They don't build set into there bows.
  I thank it's just peoples way of dealing with it.