Cable backing

[chrisdaggs]

I was wondering how to use a cable backing for a bow I am making. Do I glue it on loose and tie it for extra support  or just tie it?

[loon]

tie on polyester/dacron, there's an article about anasazi cable backing in one of the PA issues. use a toggle to twist it into tension once tied. no idea how you'd use glue with one..

hmm maybe i should do this with my very long red oak bow. or make a shorter one..

people argue against nylon but maybe it would work too - you'd probably have to use much thicker cable however

I taught a survival bows class today, and I was super excited because I got the idea of trying out the Inuit cable-backing method with nylon cordage.  I was showing the class how to make simple bows out of cedar, particularly branches which were nearly-dead, but not all-the-way dead.  Well, some people inevitably picked a stave that was all-the-way dead.  I could get maybe four inches of flex on it before it started to make cracking noises.  So, I used 50ft of nylon cordage and backed it like an Inupiaq bow, really twisted the hell out of the cordage, and the result was astonishing.  I made a roughly 50# @28" bow from a piece of rotten cedar and some cord.  It has horrible cast, and it's ugly, but it didn't explode in my face!  I basically felt like a primitive skills badass, especially since it was my first ever cordage-backed bow attempt.  I'm definitely going to try to make a proper replica of an Inupiaq bow now though.  I think I'm going to go to the National Museum of the American Indian, as I know the folks in the back rooms, and they'll let me take measurements.  So the replica should turn out pretty nicely if I can find time in my schedule to make it.

[Stick Bender]

Never made a cable back bow but in the book N American bows,arrows, and quivers has a lot of info & pics on that type of bow .

[chrisdaggs]

I've made a jute cable out of 4 strands of twisted jute twine making it about the same as the bow tip to tip.  Just trying to find out how to attach it to the bow

[Stick Bender]

I just took a look in that book & all the cable backed bows where tied on in one fashion or another some of them pretty elaborately , they are tied to keep the cable dead down the center line ,you could probably use more jute to do it in a way to keep the cable centered & tight to the back ,looks like you have some experimenting to do ,good luck. 

[chrisdaggs]

Thanks will let you know how it goes

[chrisdaggs]

Bow exploded all over the shop

[chrisdaggs]

I might try  two strands instead of four

[tattoo dave]

I've made 2 cable backed bows. It was a long time ago, so don't remember the details of them, like dimensions. One exploded, the other survived. But in both cases I added the cable after the bows were tillered. The one that broke, I probably tightened the cable way too much, actually induced a little reflex in the bow, and was re-tillering when it broke. Not sure what I did wrong or it may have been tillering issues before I even backed it with the cable. I would like to try and make another. Keep us posted if you work on another, I will too.

Tattoo Dave

[Hrothgar]

Here's a pic of a cable backed bow I did several years ago. A short hickory bow with 6 strands of artificial sinew as I recall. It shot well, the cable added a few pounds, Hickory is not the wood that needs cable backing though; I was just experimenting. I think a lot of the Innuit bows were made from birch or aspen, something not as tension strong as hickory.

[mullet]

I think I'd try to build at least one bow that doesn't break before I tried exotic, high skilled bows.

[chrisdaggs]

I have made three bows that did not break they all shoot very well. I am trying new things and looking for  advice on the subject.

[mullet]

Sorry, I read your other post and thought they were all blowing up.