denim for a backing

[NeolithicMan]

I have had a red oak board sitting around for a while. In between a bow in progress setting I decided to try and back it with some old jeans. anyone try this before? if so what could I expect?

[Pat B]

You can back a bow with denim and some folks have. One problem is the denim will soak up a lot of glue adding excess limb weight.

[mikekeswick]

Linen canvas is what you want. Somewhere around 9 oz

[adb]

Denim doesn't make a good looking backing IMHO. It turns out really thick and lumpy.

[NeolithicMan]

I figured the denim was heavy and would soak up glue, this is more of a scrap parts kinda bow. i used a big tack to hold the denim down at one limb tip, coated the bows back in TB3 slowly roled and smoothed the denim on down to the handle. then I added a layer of TB3 to the top (back) of the denim. I added a second layer of TB3 to both limbs when they were dry, now, this morning I am going to cover the center splice of denim with a small piece for protection. Ill try to get a few photos before I jump back into my recurve stave. thanks for the tips guys.

adb: the first time I laid down the denim it turned out lumpy and crooked like you said. pulled it up and tacked it to the tip and rolled it down the limb. the trick was getting it straight with the tack and adding more glue to the back right after laying it down and smoothing the glue evenly with my fingers. definetly not as easy as I thought at first!

[mwosborn]

I have tried cloth similar to denim on one of my first bows a couple of years ago - as stated it took a lot of glue and the limbs where heavy and bulky.  Did not like the results.  I since have saved a couple of deer hides and made some raw hide - I now use it when I want to back and really like how it works/looks.  That is what I would suggest.

[Pat B]

The nice thing about cloths like silk and linen clothing is they are quite thin but very strong. You can glue them down with TB glue and not have the bulk of a heavier material. IMO brown grocery bag paper would be a better option for a backing over denim and would fit right in with the "scrap parts" scenario. Thin rawhide like deer or goat (IMO)  would be the best option but not as available as the other backing materials.