Author Topic: Structural filler/New technique/Flox  (Read 1771 times)

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Offline medicmikey

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Structural filler/New technique/Flox
« on: December 04, 2012, 09:23:25 pm »
So I'm still a bowmaking novice, and lately I've been working on making firewood :(.  I was roughing out a hickory board, and I must have clamped the thing down on top of some debris (careless I know).  So now I have 2 gouges in the back of the bow.  I'm not sure what options are available to fix this, but I came up with an idea on my own.

In composite aircraft construction, a thick slurry of epoxy resin and flocked cotton fibers is used as a structural adhesive and as a structural filling agent (called Flox).  I think a similar mixture might fill these problem spots and still have enough tensile strength to hold up with the hickory.  I'm planning on using 5-minute epoxy for the trial run, but I can't see why it wouldn't work with your adhesive of choice (hide glue, knox, wood glues, etc).  I'm posting pictures of the trouble spots in question.  Any questions/comments/concerns before I give this a go?

-Mike
« Last Edit: December 05, 2012, 03:08:24 am by medicmikey »

Offline PatM

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Re: Structural filler/New technique/Flox
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2012, 09:54:19 pm »
It still needs the continuous strand principle laid on top of it. All the fillet materials and techniques in composite construction are aimed more at building a strong curved surface for composite materials to lie on without folds or angles. The fact that some filling materials are stronger than others doesn't mean they can do the job on their own.

Offline Weylin

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Re: Structural filler/New technique/Flox
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2012, 10:54:05 pm »
I agree with Pat. I'd back it with something if you're worried, and I would be worried if that was the back of my bow, hickory or not.