Hickory Back/Lamination Experiment

[synjin]

Okay, so I toyed with self bow making some years ago and only got up to a 40 lb. bow before other hobbies took over.  I was doing some cleaning out and found some hickory slats I'd cut for drum making.  This is bending hickory (dogsled hickory) and the slats are 7/16"x2"x8'. The growth rings are perpendicular to the belly/back, and I have about 8 of them.  For a flat bow could I plane one down to 1/8" for a backing and glue it to another of the slats, add a handle with fades, and then shape the bow from there? (Need to find my copies of the Bowyers Bibles 1-3.)

[GB]

I don't see why not, as long as the growth ring lines run reasonably straight the length of the bow.  I'd make the backing 3/16" so you'll have 5/8" total thickness with your belly lam.  Nice to have that extra thickness at the handle fades.  When I make one like that, I like to glue in 2" to 3" of reflex, too.  After tillering and shooting it in, I usually end up with half of that reflex which puts the tips 1" or 1 1/2" forward of the handle.  Makes for a little snappier bow, IMO.

[Pat B]

Hickory makes an excellent bow backing and is relatively easy to install. I usually cut hickory backings at 3/16" and by the time I dress both sides it comes out about 1/8" or slightly less.

[Dances with squirrels]

I wouldn't just plane one down to 1/8 - 3/16", as that seems a waste of good hickory. I would slice it in two lengthwise, creating two backing pieces. They should each still be a good 1/8" thick after they're done.

[Badger]

  If you glue a 1/8 to a 7/16 you will have about 9/16 thick. At this thickness they tend to pop handles. At about 35# you would be ok. You might try using epoxy but I still think it might pop off.

[Dances with squirrels]

Glue joints failing in the handle area is more a product of handle/dip/limb design and gluing techniques than how thick the wood is. I've made many hickory and bamboo backed bows 65-70# @ 28" with wood less than 9/16" thick with no issues.... no power lam, no pedestal, no handle popping.

[Marc St Louis]

As Steve said you could actually make a bow out of the 7/16 slat by backing it with a 1/8" backing and if you add a 12" long power lam in the center that would be enough to stiffen the handle area so that you wouldn't have a problem with the handle popping off.

[BowEd]

synjin.....I just showed one way of this a while back.Search for red cedar bows on here.

[mikekeswick]

Agreed - add a powerlam and you will be good to go.

[synjin]

About how thick is the center of a power lam? Most I've looked at seem to be about 1/8" to maybe 1/4".

[mikekeswick]

It depends on what design of bow you are making but for a fairly simple flat bow i'd go with about an 1/8th. When you make it be sure to get the ends very thin. They should be thin enough to see light through for maybe the last 1/2inch.
If you cut your limbs out in a pyramid taper you will need very little tillering.