Hi and a newbie question.

[cooper_luke_10]

Hi I only just found this site and have had a look and think its great.
I've had the three Bowyers Bibles for a while now and hopefully I'm not to far off having the time to try a board bow with some Aussie timbers.

One question that comes to my mind though is in regards to backings, the guys I have seen on the net in Australia making board bows with backing have used stuff like linen, silk or fibre glass.
When i say fibreglass I mean to say it was the type you get in a kit with a roll of the fibres which you sought of paint the resin into.
To put these backings on do you use the same type of glue you would use for a riser or do you use the fibre glass kit type glues.

I saw one tutorial some place where the fella kind of put glue onto the back of his bow and  layed the strip of glass fibres down onto it and then painted over it with more of the glue. is it done the same with linen etc.?
He didn't mention what type of glue he used.

But anyway great site, some of the work I've looked at here really kickstarts the imagination
Cheers.

[nugget]

for my backings I use Titebond 2 or 3. Ihave never used fiber glass. I use rawhide, linen, paper, cloth. I usually spread some glue on the bow and then put the backing out on the bow.

[Canoe]

Howdy Mr. Cooper,

And welcome to PA.   Below is a link to a guy's website who builds bows with minimal tools and space - it's a very good guide for beginners.  He glues on Fiber Glass (FG) as a backing - WE don't use no FG here at P.A.
 
I have used silk from an old dress bought at my local thrift store - a few dollars, but enough silk for backing a few bows.
I put the strips of silk into a small plastic bag, add some water and glue (TiteBond I, II, or III).  I then, squish the bag for a little while to wet the silk with glue / water.  Then I spread a thin layer of just glue onto the bow (the back of the bow).  And, working from the handle area outward toward the tips, I lay on the backing.  (Be sure to remove all bubbles that are found between the backing and wood.)

Best of luck. Go slow, ask a lot of questions and include photos.  Don't expect perfection on your first bows - it's not that easy, but you'll get it.


'Bow Building for Poor People and Apartment Dwellers'...
http://www.geocities.com/salampsio/

All the Best,
Canoe

[recurve shooter]

yup, what they said. the backing on a board bow is used to keep splinters from popping up on the back, which will eventually lead to a break. i have heard that you can use silk, linnen, or even denem, like on blue jeans. use one of the titebond's for glue. best of luck, let us know how it's going when you get started.

[aaron]

what type of wood are you gonna use? I'm curious if anyone's makin bows from the few native ozzie woods....good luck

[cooper_luke_10]

Thanks for the welcomes and replies.
As for the woods, I'm going to use a timber supplier I have found in brisbane and hope to get some spotted gum, they also have grey ironbark, both are Aussie timbers I have seen people use on the net.
This is the available timbers from this supplier, I just hope they will have boards of suitable size.

Is there any other woods here anyone would suggest I try?

It might be a little while before I get my but into gear, with work, buying a new house and attempting to get a little knifemaking workshop set up in the garage and study, I'm flat out.
The imagination is a little bit big sometimes I think, but eventually I"ll get there

[tombo]

Cooper, I don't know anything about Aussie wood except that a fella from down under told me that South Texas reminded him of the outback. If you have any kind of Acacia trees or berry trees, I'd try making self bows from them. I'm not a fan of backings.
Tom

[George Tsoukalas]

Board bows don't automatically need a backing. That depends on how straight the grain is  and the poundage wanted. There's more on my site. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[recurve shooter]

Board bows don't automatically need a backing. That depends on how straight the grain is  and the poundage wanted. There's more on my site. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

btw that is an AWSOME site for beginners.