Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Rick Wallace on June 15, 2011, 02:40:25 am
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I have a 4" x 12" x 8' red cedar board that I had cut in may of last year,I forgot I even had it till I tripped on it today.Yall think it would be good bow material?? I know I would have to back it with something,,I have a good bit of deer rawhide and I finally found a place to get hickory boards and other hardwood. Any advice appreciated.
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Both rawhide and hickory will make a great backing for ERC. How clear(or better yet knotty) is your cedar board. Knots can be deadly to an ERC bow.
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Its very clear for the most part,I had 2 cut from the same tree,I used the one with all the knots [top of the tree I think] on another project.
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Another question,is there any particular style bow that would be best for cedar? And how thick should a hickory backing be?
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IMO hickory is the better choice for a backing to ERC. I just finished a hickory backed ERC a few months ago. I started with a tapered belly core at .800" at the center to. 700" at the tips. And the hickory backing was also thickness tapered from 3/16" at the center to 1/8" at the ends. And after glue up I thinned just a wee tad more on the hickory backing. The bow is 70.5"ntn. 1 1/2" wide at middle till 2/3 down the limbs then tapering to 1/2" tips. Its a bend in the handle bow. 55lbs@25" its a lil overbuilt cus I used a fire pile saver that I never thought wood work,but it surprised me and wanted to be a bow. Feel free to ask or pm me anything else on it.
You can also go shorter and wider and make a sinewed back bow with it. I just roughed a short wide pyramid style out of ERC last weekend to be sinewed,and its gonna be a bend in the handle bow too.
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I made a real speed demon a few years ago backing ERC with Bamboo.
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bamboo ???? ??? ???well might but thatd be a first soft as ceadr is i know boo will crusah the ceader and it will blow my choice is back it with 1/16 hickory you need to get it where the backing
does not crush the cader iv made severl and blew a heck of a bunch of em up learned the hard way it s gotta be thin thin brock
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Thanks for the response,,Does any one have any pics? I want to study good before I get started.
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Sure do...give me an hour and ill put em up. ;)
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Before I post the pics of it here's a link to the build along I did of it on another site. Its been awhile since I did a build along? Hmmmm? Pay attention to Dire Wolf s and Hanks comments. But don't pay attention to mine cus I don't know #$%! :D
http://leatherwall.BOWSITE.COM/TF/lw/thread2.cfm?forum=23&threadid=222142&messages=148&CATEGORY=4
Here's the bow.
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/2011-04-18_19-21-37_397.jpg)
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/2011-05-08_20-04-59_789-1.jpg)
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/2011-05-08_20-07-46_991-1.jpg)
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/2011-04-21_21-48-16_313.jpg)
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/2011-05-08_20-09-54_83-1.jpg)
I purposely intended for two inches of follow and hit my intended mark. Anyways that should be MORE than enough for ya
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I can guarantee bamboo will not crush cedar. It was made four years ago and is still shooting. Made from a cedar board spliced in the handle, 55# @28". It never ceases to amaze me when someone comes on here asking for advice and then some of the statements tossed back with advice from people that havn't done it themselves. But they have heard it from LeRoy's cousin's, sister's, brother. If you back it with bamboo or hickory and your backing is too thick it will overpower cedar or most any wood. Here is a bow built in one day from a cedar stave when CubanFlRedneck came over, 55# @ 28" also
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Speaking of CubanFlRedneck where's he been? Did he build a bow with then slip away into the Cypress for a couple seasons or what?
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I talked to him a couple of weeks ago. After he built this bow he slipped with his drawknife while working on a piece of wood and cut the tendon in his index finger. He was out of work for quite awhile, he's a massage therapist, and is trying to catch back up now.
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Thanks for your insight Mullet, Thats why I like lots of people to reply! I dint like the bend through handle type bows, Do you think I could use what I call the Sam Harper Red Oak style would work? I'm really comfortable with this style more than others. I have some pretty large diameter bamboo Ive just never used it,How thick should it be? Sorry for all the questions,but I'm still in the learning stage! BTW I looked over my cedar today and I can get several boards out of it with no knots at all. And should I avoid the white wood and just use the red? or does it matter ?
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Here's one backed with bamboo
(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc270/May-Pumphrey/rafflebowhandledetail.jpg)
(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc270/May-Pumphrey/rafflebowDebbiesfulldraw.jpg)(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc270/May-Pumphrey/rafflebowsigniture.jpg)Ron
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This one's backed with sinew. Ron(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc270/May-Pumphrey/CedarDbowandoldpost.jpg)
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And dang! I can't find any pics of a hickory backed one. As the others have mentioned though any of these backings can work well on junipers, including ERC. Hickory backings should probably be on the thin side. I trapped the bamboo backing, the one time I used it and got nearly zero set. I usually make the working portion of the limbs pretty wide (~2") when working with ERC Ron
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Thats what im looking for! I like that one M-P ! Forgive me but I dont understand TRAPPED ? And you say hickory should be thin,,how thin? Great looking bow, thanks for sharing!
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I agree with Ron,make the limbs wide coming out of the fades. I like my bamboo thin also, around an 1/8" if possible. I saw an all sapwood ERC at Pat B's Camporama. It was a very flat shooting bow. If you are backing it sapwood or knots shouldn't be a problem. I've got a yew board I'm going to do the same with when I get some time.
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Mullet, that stinks about his hand...hopefully he'll heal fully and not loose too much work. I had a run in with a DK as well but nothing like tendon damage, just meat >:D
M-P, those are some FANTASTIC ERC bows! Thanks for sharing those pics.
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Rick " trap " refers to the shape...trapezoidal.
Lane
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Rick, Johnston has it right. Trapping is just shorthand for thinning the edges of the backing so that the main strength of the backing is just runs down the center of the bow.. It's basically a way to weaken the backing. In this case I thinned the outer 1/3 of the bamboo along each edge and then lightly sanded the whole backing. Boo is sort of trapped anyway by virtue of it's rounded shape, but this piece was kinda thick. For hickory I've used a backing a little less than 1/8 inch. Ron
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OK Thanks! now I understand should be able to get started this weekend. Ill post pics as I make progress
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OK More questions,, I got my board cut ,riser glued on,[pics tonight] It is 2" wide,58" long,no knots. The boo I have wont cover all the way across,only about 3/4 of it. Is that to small or should I go with something else? And will oak and rawhide combo work for backing? Cant get any hickory till later next month but I have some red oak I could cut. One more thing,should I glue in some reflex or leave it flat? Ill figger it out one day ;D
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The bambo should be fine, and glue in some reflex.
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Like Mullet said. Ron
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Thanks !
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i made a rawhide backed erc for my grand son a couple years back. he shot it like only a 10 year old full of the spirit could it finally blew a coulpe months ago. never lost tiller and shot an arrow fast to the last one, and then just come apart into 7 pieces.i think cedar just gets so dry, that they do so. gonna have to build him another, he hasnt liked a bow as much since.
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ohma2, Dryness is a possible cause but, in my opinion, unlikely unless the bow was left in a car or direct sunlight for hours. Another possible cause is youthful exuberance and enough growth for a longer draw. Ron
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I got pics but cant download yet,going in to town today to get a new cord for the camera,,,always something! :)