Trouble with fiberglass backing

[emr454]

I'm building a red oak board bow, and I've gotten to the point were I'm ready to back it with fiberglass tape. I tried my best to get the tape flat and smooth but I couldnt get rid of the tiny ripples in it after I laid it down on the glue. Anyone else have this problem or any ways to fix it? I went ahead and put 3 layers on because I dont have anything else to back it with right now. Maybe next time I'll try brown paper or linen.

Eric

[Thwackaddict]

i dont think anyone on here uses fiberglass,at least not that i'm aware of.

[El Destructo]

Eric....the best way to fix that is.....leave that fiberglass tape on the roll...and put it up for your next drywall job....get yourself a piece of silk....canvas....rawhide or some other naturally occurring material to back it with....the "F" word don't go over too well here.....;-)

But since you already asked....and the Mods haven't moved it yet....put  a thin layer of resin on it to smooth it up....sand it and be done with it...hope this helped

[NTD]

God Bless Sam Harper for helping so many people get into making wood bows, but damn him for the fiberglass tape suggestion...  

Not sure how to help you there Eric.  You could probably heat the tape with a heatgun to release the glue but that much heat probably wouldn't be good for the back of the bow.  On your next attempt you could try an unbacked bow...those are alway nice   Or you could use paper, linen, silk, rawhide, burlap, anything but FG tape   Burlap is easy, cheap, most feed stores will sell you a burlap sack for a few pennies.  Good luck either way and welcome to PA.

Mike and I must have typing at the same time

[El Destructo]

Hope we didn't scare the Boy off....;-)

[NTD]

Ha, I hope not.

[emr454]

Oops! Didn't mean to let the F word slip, newbie mistake I guess 

Anyway, the glue was still tacky so I removed the tape and cleaned up the board. I cut up a big paper grocery bag and glued down one layer of brown paper, but I had to use 2 pieces to get the length I needed. I overlapped the pieces a little, but not much. How much should I have overlapped them? Oh, should I use more than one layer of paper backing?

Thanks for your help, and for not booting me off the island for the F word

Eric

[El Destructo]

Eric....where did you put the seam? In the grip area I hope.....you don't.want to ever put a seam anywhere in the working limbs...just a reason for failure.....

[emr454]

El D,

I overlapped it right in the center of the handle. Its overlapping by about 1/8", is that enough?

Eric

[El Destructo]

That will be fine....is it a stiff handle design....or a bendy one?

[Pat B]

One layer of paper is plenty. Adding more than one layer of any backing is not necessary and will reduce the efficiency of your bow.
   Nate, I'm with you about the FG tape. I never understood why one would use FG sheetrock tape when other better choices are around. Paper sheetrock tape would be more appropriate IMO.

[emr454]

This is going to be a stiff handle bow.

Eric

[El Destructo]

Pat and I concur....one layer is good...and being that its a stiff handled bow...a splice in the paper in the handle is appropriate...good luck....and have fun..

[emr454]

Well, I couldn't get the paper completely flat and smooth either. It almost looks like air pockets under the paper but they're solid, so I'm thinking it is glue. Maybe I used too much? It wasn't very thick when I put it on but it did cover the whole surface of the bow. Maybe I can snap a pic of it in a few minutes.

I was having really good luck building this bow until this point. It has definitely been a learning process!

Eric

[El Destructo]

                                                                                   Pictures Would Help..........