Cable Bow Questions

[THoward]

Greetings from Oregon,
I will be reworking "Frankenstein", a hickory board bow I chased down to a growth ring.  This bow is my experimentation bow, hence the name.  I will be adding antler overlays and silk, neck tie backings for camo effect.  To complete the collage I thought about adding a cable backing just for fun.  I have many questions about the process.  Such as where to place the nodes and how many.  Where to cut in the knocks.  What type of cable material and at what tension.  Please respond with any experiences or experiments of your own.  Pics are always great to look at.  I will see if I can post a pic of old Frank when all is said and done.  I look forward to all responses.
Thanks,
Todd

[whitewoodshunter]

with all that stuff your adding to a good piece of hickory you might slow the fps down. But hey give it a try.

[orcbow]

I love cable backing- and have made a few. I used hemp string on the first one, but it was mostly a toy. For the others I have used with the best results artificial sinew, which is usually nylon. And if you don't have the time or inclination to use real sinew, nylon is the next best thing, because it is stretchy. And if done right, the stretchy cable will actually store some energy! I don't know if this possible extra energy will offset the extra weight. You can stop the cable from going all the way to the tips of the bow, and compromise a little.

Here is a link to a cable backed bow that I made:

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,8837.0.html

[THoward]

orcbow,
Where would you place the nodes, what height and what material would you use to minimize weight?  I can play with materials and tension depending on what feels good.
T