More questions on FF overlays

[Kegan]

I tried some bone that broke quickly (during shaping). I don't have alot of antler, barely any at all. I do, however, have some red bulleta and dense Osage pieces. Both of these woods seem very hard, and under pressure, just smooth off, unlike hickory, red oak or whatever, which starts to crush slightly on heavier bows with Dacron strings.

My FF Plus strings are 14 strands, with six strands of Dacron spliced into the loop, and a timber hitch tied into the other end. I'm worried that trying to use these overlays will wind up with a broken stave, and I don't want to wind up ruining a good, straight stave because I couldn't wait to get the proper matierals.

[Gordon]

I don't know anything about bulleta, but the osage ought to be fine for overlays.

[Kegan]

Thanks Gordon. I appreciate the help .

I've got a bow that I can actually do a test on (it's a not-so-great board).

[nickf]

I think most woods could be used for overlays, as long as they are can be shaped properly
overlays aren't really 'stressed', they're mostly for looks, sometimes to make it easier to get narrow nocks. at least these are my main reasons :p

if you're really afraid of the string cutting through the back, you just need a harder kind of wood. I don't know nothing about Bulletta, can't find it on internet either. If you mean bullet wood, this will hold up for sure but the string-cuts are mostly more ditches, and don't hurt the bow

I'm sure you will be fine with both, and ofcourse, you could use both at the same time

greetings, Nick

[Kegan]

Thanks Nick. I'm not sure what the actual name is. It's a dark, dense hardwood (tropical) my father has he uses for trim on special projects. Really tough stuff- dense and hard. I've got some tests in the work. Fingers crossed .

[nickf]

if tough and dense, it will work just perfect

goodluck with your tests!

Nick

[AndrewS]

The string must be thick enough and you don't need a overlay.
A 14 Strand FF plus an inlay of 6 Strand should be enough.
Up to 55 lbs I use 10 Strand FF with an inlay of 6 at the loops. That works fine without overlay.

[Kegan]

Thanks Andrew! The only trouble i seem to have with the string is the timber hitch- it sinches tight and seems that I need an overlay because of it. No bother. I'm just glad I don't have t worry myself sick trying to find antler for overlays. Thanks everyone .

[AndrewS]

I used a single loop and a timber hitch for years. Now I use strings with two loops, 'cause I think it works better with tiny nocks

[nickf]

kegan, most overlays are made from scrap hardwood, so you wouldn't have to look for antler anyways
bone, horn and antler are used too, too bad your piece broke, but I think It would have done great if you had been a little more carefull

next to overlays, underlays might be very beautyfull. Haven't made one like them yet, but it keeps the knot from ditching the belly, wich I usually have on my hazel bows.

this are overlays I made on a alder bow, wich sadly broke after overdrawing it...
purpleheart-merbau on alder


greetings, Nick

[Lost Arra]

Has anyone got photos or hands-on experience with a selfbow breaking at the nock from a ff string?

I've always wondered if this was something that carried over from the damage on older fg recurves that were not ff compatible and now everyone assumes it can't be good for selfbows.

I guess ignorance is bliss because I started using Dyna 97 when making selfbows because it was simpler when first bracing the bow to not have to pre-stretch the string in order to keep a low brace height. I've been using 14 strand (no padded loops) on all selfbows with and without overlays without any problems.  Now that I've said that I'll expect an explosion soon.