ERC board belly with hickory board backing?

[txdm]

After a brief hiatus due to weather and other projects, I finally got back on this one. This weekend I cut the profiles into the cedar and hickory using a table saw followed by refinement with a block plane.

I also trimmed the limbs of the cedar down to a little under 1/2" thickness using the table saw, then rounded the corners on the belly side.




The cedar is so soft to work with compared to hickory! It's been really humid (85-90%), should I dry the cedar some in a box before gluing?

Also should I round the backing before I glue or does it matter at this stage?

[Pat B]

Your backing looks thick. I usually go 1/8" or slightly less.
It's always a good to dry the wood before glue up and it sure won't hurt. You can wait until the bow is glued up before rounding the edges but do it before stressing the bow.

[txdm]

You have quite an eye! The backing is 9/64" thick. I can sand it down some more.

Also where the handle billet goes I had to shave off a 16th to fix a stray rasp gouge. I was planning to put hickory there, but now I'm considering adding a stack of thinner hickory plus a harder piece of cedar heartwood.

[Springbuck]

txdm!!!  Before you go any further, and sorry to be nosy, but are you SURE what you have there is EASTERN red cedar?  It may be, but it looks quite brown in color, less pink than I am used to, the grain looks very straight.  Around here fencing and roof shakes are split as often as sawn from western red cedar, which is an entirely different tree.

Just thought I'd check.

[txdm]

I'm not entirely sure... it was purchased a long time ago. I'll look to see if some of the other boards have a tag on them.

[txdm]

Well, shoot, I called the store where I got the lumber and it is indeed Western Cedar.

I have some Red Oak on hand, and also another cedar board from elsewhere that is much stiffer/denser, less gold-colored, and with more knots... It might be ERC, but I don't have a way of knowing for sure.

Final option is to be patient and find some real ERC locally when I am back in town.

[Eric Krewson]

One sniff of your wood would tell you if it is red cedar as it has a very distinctive pleasant smell.

[gfugal]

Is western cedar unsuitable for a bow? If not I would go ahead with your plan, it may not look as cool, but it will look good regardless.

[PatM]

Western Red Cedar  is unsuitable.

[vinemaplebows]

txdm!!!  Before you go any further, and sorry to be nosy, but are you SURE what you have there is EASTERN red cedar?  It may be, but it looks quite brown in color, less pink than I am used to, the grain looks very straight.  Around here fencing and roof shakes are split as often as sawn from western red cedar, which is an entirely different tree.

Just thought I'd check.

That run off near midlimb looks bad to me, and it does not look like red cedar to me either.

[txdm]

Back from the dead!

I acquired a nice board of real Eastern Red Cedar and have already cut it down to match my hickory laminates.

Is bicycle tube really the best way to go for glue-up? Does the tube get glued to the bow wood? I'll be buying the tube new, from either tractor supply or wallyworld.

My alternative materials on hand are 8 wood working clamps, and many many yards of heavy polypropylene hay bailing twine.

[DC]

I put masking tape on the back to keep it clean and then wrap the whole thing in Saran Wrap before I wrap the tube strips onto it. Take care to keep the Saran out of the glue line.

[BowEd]

+1 DC.

[txdm]

Sounds good. I plan to put bamboo skewer dowels into the part of the handle that I will be cutting away later to hold the limbs stable during glueup. For the handle billet is it better to glue it before, during, or after the backing lam?

[DC]

For the handle billet

I'm not sure what you mean.