backing spliced osage billets

[luke the drifter]

i believe that i have a pretty good glued-up splice.  but if for some reason the glue lines end up not being to my satisfaction, could i compensate whatever perceived flaw with a hickory backing strip?  i guess my question really is will the hickory backing do the compensating or hold up whichever it is?  i am looking to get around 35 to 45 pounds of draw weight at 30-32 inches of draw length.  what about fiberglass tape(not the drywall tape like one would find at lowe's)?  any thought on that.

luke

[luke the drifter]

the bow will be 72 inches long.

[Bevan R.]

I have used both hickory and fiberglass tape to back bows. One piece and spliced billets. Nice thing with hickory is it will still be an all wood bow. Even though the fiberglass gets 'transparent' with the addition of epoxy, you will still want to cover it with something. It is also easier to glue in some reflex using hickory.

[Pat B]

A hickory overlay should do fine especially at the bow's length and relatively low draw weight. No need to use that nasty FG crap! 

[George Tsoukalas]

I've never used FG or drywall tape. I've also never done an all wood backing. You could use rawhide as a backing. Just seems to go with osage and yew. You could also glue on a thin strip of hickory over the handle. Or even a thin strip of rawhide. Head'em up! Move'em out! Yaaaa! Jawge