Cordage backed red oak board bow?

[Marin]

 I went I both lowes and Home Depot and this is the best board I could find. It has a good grain but it has a slight runoff near the end. I know I can get a bow out of it but it has to backed. I know I probably shouldn't do a sinew backing (as it is red oak) but I thought it might be interesting to try and do a cordage backing with nylon cord. Before I do that I have a couple of question: can I even make a short, cordage backed bow from red oak that still has a good draw weight? Do I apply the cordage backing before tillering (like sinew) or after? And if I do it before, to what draw length do I tiller it to?
Thanks

[Onebowonder]

A good Red Oak board will make a self bow without the assistance of any kind of backing, ...but if you are determined to use a backing, there are much better options than nylon cord.  Nylon stretches too much and too easily to be of much value as a backing material.  Also, Nylon is not a very primitive material and is only half a step removed from F#@$%*glass as a backing. 

I've used Silk cloth over Red Oak and liked the results.  Raw hide is a pretty good backing on a Red Oak bow as well.  I've used really thin (aka CHEAP) goat raw hide on Red Oak before.  Also, I've used Sisal fibers harvested out of cheap sisal twine from Wally World which I thought worked well. 

I hear that Jute fiber works well, but I've not yet tried it.  Others that I have not yet tried, but read about others using are Denim, Brown Paper bag, and even Duct Tape! (shakes head in disbelief...)

Red Oak is quite strong in Tension and is not likely to really need a backing at all as it is considerably more likely to fail in compression than tension.  You may even find yourself wanting to Trap the back of your Red Oak!

...but a backing can buy you some comfort in feeling that your slight bit of grain run-out is at least supported somewhat by the backing.  Keep in mind, if your run-out is toward the end of the bow any way, it may actually be cut out as you layout your front profile.

OneBow

[JoJoDapyro]

I've made several. Both backed and un backed. The only failures I have had were due to poor judgement on layout, and not due to the wood its self. I have another that some will scoff at that is just about done. I have backed with linen, and denim. Both worked fine.

[Marin]

I am not determined to use a backing I was just afraid as my wood has runoff on it that it would need a backing to be a functional bow. I thought of nylon because I read an article made by Dick Baugh who was trying to replicate the intuit cordage bows with cheaper materials.
I am curious though, when backing with say linen from a shirt, do you just cut it into strips and glue those strips to the back of the bow overlapping?

[Marin]

Anybody know how to post pics? I can't seem to figure it out and I want to show a picture of my board. It says the file size is too big.

[Lumberman]

I use the app simple resize, take it down to around 600x400, free and simple

[Marin]

Here we go

[Marin]

Photo of side and front

[Marin]

Front

[Marin]

If you need better pics, tell me

[bradsmith2010]

that looks pretty good to me,, I like to back mine,, as stated not necessary,, I like to overbuild my board bows as well,,just a little longer or wider sometime,,  I think linen canvas would work, you can get it at the art store,,,,,unprimed,,,

[Marin]

Yeah, I think I'll back mine with either linen or jute(from burlap sack) just because of the slight runoff. It's one of my first bows so I don't want to risk it. will that add any weight to the bow?

[Pat B]

what does the side grain look like? That is as critical as the back grain.

[Marin]

The side grain is pretty straight but what you don't see I the picture is that one grain near the side seems to run onto the board and then runoff. It is he reason why I feel I should back it with something.

[bubbles]

That looks like a pretty primo RO board to me.  I've made unbacked red oakies out of worse. I vote no backing.