Hickory backed cherry?

[Thwackaddict]

Any one ever try backing cherry with hickory? I have some old,old cherry that i'm dying to try backing it with either hickory or maple.Any pointers?

[jthompson1995]

I would think hickory would way overpower the cherry. I am slowly working on a maple backed cherry now and have heard that combination works well and shoots very fast. You'll want to leave the cherry wide to spread the compression load or it is likely to chrysal and/or fail.

[HoBow]

I agree, the cherry will most likely be overpowered.  Hickory is strong in tension.  Cherry is weak in compression if I am not mistaken.  This would make a bad combo unless you keep the backing very thin.

[Grunt]

I've built three hickory backed cherry. Two chrysaled and I reworked the last one by thinning the hickory backing to 1/8 or less. Still shooting that one. 

[Hillbilly]

Cherry/hickory is a combo that has been used a lot in the past. Apparantly if you can get one shooting, it makes a good bow. As has been said, keep the hickory very thin.

[NTProf]

I made a hickory-backed cherry bow. The hickory was about 1/8" thin, and I trapped it a little. No problems. The bow is still shooting fine, at around 52 lbs@28.

[Del the cat]

Ash backed Cherry seems like a fairly well balanced combination.
Del

[elk country rp]

1/8" ring violated hickory backing, 70" ntn, 60#-65# @ 29", wicked fast with hardly any handshock- 200 arrows so far. the finish isn't dry yet, so no full draws.

i've had maple backs not quite hold together, so i tried the thin hickory instead- so far so good....



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[sulphur]

I hate to disagree with you guys, BUT hickory makes a great backing for cherrry.  Cherry is strong in compression, what causes the chrysaling is poor tillering.  Take the tillering slowly and don't over stress the wood too early.  I do agree with keeping the hickory thin, just under .125"  (1/8 inch).  There is no need to go wide with it though, keep the width at 1.5 for most backed bows.  Other wise the core/ backing ratio gets out of whack.  Also ash and maple do make great backings for cherry.  here is my latest ash backed cherry.

[Thwackaddict]

elk country- nice looking bow,my cherry looks very similar to urs.How old is the cherry on that bow.Mine is over 80yrs old.Kinda iffy about it but whats the worst can happen break??Also what do you mean by ring violated hickory?

Sulphur thanks and thats a sweet bow!!

Thanks to the rest of you guys,your input is greatly appreciated and very much needed.You guys are great!!

[ken75]

im gonna have to agree with sulpher you cant have any low spots in the cherry , if tillered right its a sweet combo , although i would keep the hic thin

[Thwackaddict]

thanks ken you too sulphur,what thickness should the belly be?I'm at 1" right now before the hickory goes on.As this will be my first backing attempt what am i looking for backing wise?Board or big thick stave?Tight growth rings or big thick ones?

[elk country rp]

thanks, my local hardwoods dealer has been known to set aside good bow wood for me from time to time. i've had the cherry for a year or so. the ring violated hickory is ripped from a flat sawn board to show a few islands (i've gotten away with it on 4 or 5 bows now). i'll post pics when i'm done with the tru oil.

unless it blows up......

[Thwackaddict]

Ok,thanks man,we'll hope it doesnt i would like to see that.So i just look for a board with nice strait grain.

[ken75]

thwack all my backings have been either hickory or ash quarter sawn , some on here have posted about plain sawn backings i just haven tried it . if your looking for a hunting weight bow start with 1/2 inch cherry before backing is on and bring it down from there during tillering , make sure to not stress the bow at all if you have dips or low spots ,smooth all the way even during tillering. this should get you a 55 # hunting bow thats fast and sweet shooting .keep your tips light