hickory backed black walnut

[gutpile]

anybody got experience with black walnut, backing with a hickory strip.. this is my first .. planning on perry reflex design 62 tip to tip.. 1 5/8 wide at fade to 1 1/4 mid limb to 1/2 tips..my draw is 26 shooting for mid 50's at 26... Ive heard walnut frets so I'm hoping this design will be sufficent.. thoughts?.. might even try to recurve the walnut before glue up.. If I do I'll taper the board to about 1/2 boil and put a sheet metal band on belly and back before I try to bend it.. I've never tried that either.. or I might just do a perry reflex longbow style.. still thinking about it any input is much appreciated on the recurving .. My unibond is about out of date some I am glueing up a mess of bows.BTW.. my unibond is out of date but it has not gotten thick yet and is still good for now. haha.. got an ipe boo glued.  cedar boo glued, doing this one and an osage boo to glue.. thanks in advance ...gut

[Pat B]

Gut, I made one many years ago but don't remember fretting with it. All my walnut selfbows were made with the sapwood.

[gutpile]

this is a board Pat .. Ive heard that it frets.. but I have no experience with it.... so I thought I'd make it a lil wider than normal and I am thinking I need to keep the belly flat and a tad longer... was wondering if I am asking to much of it to perry reflex it also..gut

[Digital Caveman]

I think Perry reflexing actually helps the belly.

[RyanY]

I would make it at least 2” wide at the fade and proportionately wider at mid limb to match. I wouldn’t keep the backing thicker than 1/8”.

[gutpile]

I was thinking 1 5/8.. is that not wide enough.. 2 inch is pretty wide... so perry reflex helps the belly?.. learn something new everyday...gut

[RyanY]

My experience with black walnut is that it’s relatively light and soft compared to other white woods so it needs to be wider. If your bow isn’t taking any set then you can always narrow it. Better to leave it wide to start IMO.

[Dances with squirrels]

I agree that it's softer and lighter, but wouldn't make it 2" just because I'll never make any bow that wide. I'd go 1 3/4 maybe, and go longer.

I tried a few walnut pieces from a board with perfect grain and ring orientation, backed with hickory, definitely less than 1/8", gently reflexing them at glue up. They all got at least one fret. It was relatively early in my bowmaking, but I thought maybe the board I was using had something to do with it. It might be fun to play with, but personally I wouldn't bother. The walnut I have left gets used in the middle of trilams or in glass bows.

[RyanY]

The wood doesn’t care about your width preferences.

[bownarra]

Yes for that short of a bow and 50# I would make it 2" wide and go from there.
I would also highly recommend trapping the hickory (if that is all you've got to use, maple/ash would be a lot better). The thickness doesn't really matter it is the width of the backing compared to the width of the belly. Remeber the outer 1/16th or so of the wood does the majority of the work.
I've made a few hickory/b.walnuts and whilst not an optimum combo it will work with te trapped back.
It also makes a great core wood as Dances mentioned.

[Dances with squirrels]

Ryan, you're absolutely right. Gutpile shouldn't care either, that's why I plainly stated that it was my preference.

Gutpile, on wide thin bows of woods like walnut, cherry, etc you can make the hickory backing thinner than 1/8". 1/16" is enough to protect the back, will still hold the glued in reflex, and should have a little less tendency to crush the belly.

[gutpile]

I just glued up a cedar boo bow.. 1 1/2 wide at fade.. all heartwood.. survived glue up.. was trimming the slat to boo with bandsaw and it exploded... well shot a 3/8 splinter from boo to belly about 7 inches. The heartwood had a white line in it where bandsaw started cut.. and it just popped.. cedar is the softest wood I've worked.. I glued it back on gonna try to see if it will make a 35lb for my daughter ..highly doubt it.. worth a try I guess just will be wearing a helmet at brace..LOL... I learned to line up any white lines in the heartwood in center and not on the edge now.. first time I had a bow do that.. first cedar boo too... sickening ... I backed a cedar maple bow once and it exploded at brace.. pin knot on backing caused that.. I had it longstringed to 20 " was looking perfect..
as for this bow not sure what I will do.. I can order some boo because I dont have any that wide...but then it may be too much for the belly too... guess I'll try it with the hickory I got .. 2' to start and can always narrow it ..  gut

[gutpile]

would boo be a better choice to back this wood..? if so is 2" still a good width?..gut

[Kidder]

From a logistical standpoint I can’t imagine being able to get boo flat enough or thin enough anywhere near 2 inches in width. Arrowind built a really nice hickory backed black walnut from a board a few years ago and posted it on the site. It was 1.75 inches wide and 72 inches long. Take a look at that one if you haven’t already.

[gutpile]

I read in TBB tim baker states that red cedar unbacked 2" wide but 1 3/8 wide backed.. now it is some really soft wood.. as is walnut.. I got some boo coming and I just might do an experiment .. this board is thick over inch so I think I will rip it at least two times..get some laminations for a tri lam bow later or just rip in half should be enough for two bows.... get it about 1/2 thick.. taper it for a perry reflex... either boo if I can get it thin enough or my hickory strip I got and trap that.. wood was gave to me so its just time invested... sitting on the fence right now.. I got 3 bows glued up already..  gut