Hickory backed maple question

[tarheel bower]

This is my first post but I have been a back ground fan for sometime now. I have a friend that wanted me to make his son a bow from some hardrock maple which was cut from his farm. I have backed it with hickory and have it tillered to 50# @ 25". 62" ntn, 1 1/2" at the fades to 3/8" at the tips. I have worked the bow close to 150 times on the tree, I have now beginning to see what I think are frets, wavey raised lines running across the belly. Do you guy's think this is a good wood combination and do you think what I discribed are frets?

[NTD]

How thick is the hickory?

Hickory backed maple is a great combo.  Some woods are prone to frets(not maple) but some wood will develop frets due to tillering issues.  Any Full draw pics?  If you have a hinge or just an area doing too much work it's possible to get frets.

[tarheel bower]

The hickory is between 1/8" & 3/16" thick. You could be right about one area doing more work,the area I'm refering to is in the mid limb area. I will try to add a full draw picture. I did not see a hinge but I'm new to bow building and you may see something I don't. Thanks for the reply.

[hova]

post some pics , we'll get a going again.


-hov

[red hill]

Could the backing be too thick?  Most of the things I've read mentioned sanding the hickory backing down thinner than 1/8". Last summer I backed a red oak board bow with hickory that over-powered the red oak.  The hickory was over 1/8" in thickness.
Stan

[Pat B]

I like hickory backings to be 1/*' but with maple I might even go less. How thick in the maple?  Pics would help.

[7 Lakes]

Hickory can put alot of tension on the belly of a bow.  (That's one of the things that make it such a great backing).  The trick is to use as little as possible.  Light woods... Cedar and Maple come to mind immediately should be backed with Hickory less than .125.

There is very little room for error when backing a light wood with greater than 1/8" hickory.  Any weak spot is a likely candiate for being crushed.

[tarheel bower]

Thinks for all the info. I hope the picture uploads. This will be may first try at uploading a pic. It really sounds like the area that I have is crushed. It is only in an area about 1 inch about mid limb. I will make sure from now on that my hickory is less than 1/8" on my white wood bows. Are my other dimensions ok with this type of bow?

[NTD]

A full draw will help us much better if you can get one.  But I'm going to guess that it was the middle to inner part of the bottom limb that fretted.

I don't see a problem with 1/8" hickory but what may have done it was wood doing too much work in one area, especially with the design it looks like you used.  Those relfexed tips forced wood to work in a smaller area than a straight profile design giving little room for error in tillering.

[NTD]

The fact that it's only in 1" area proves it wasn't the hickory!!! It was the tillering    

Have you tried a tillering gizmo?  This tool will really help you spread the work load thoughout the limbs and avoid hinges etc.

[tarheel bower]

I'm still learning, one mistake I made was to shape the handle before final tiller, this makes it difficult to pull the string from center of the bow. Maybe this view will be better. The one good thing is I have just pennies in this bow, that is what I think is the coolest thing about learning this skill.

[NTD]

Is this your first bow?  Definitely not bad for your early work.  

It does look to me like too little wood is doing too much work.  I see the very beginnings of a hinge on the right limb (bottom?) at midlimb.  Was my guess on the bottom limb fretting correct?

[tarheel bower]

Yes, the bottom limb is where the problem is. What can I do to help with the frets. And thinks for the compliment. I was making this bow for a 12 year old youth from my Church so I still have some room for weight removal.

[Pat B]

To relieve the stresses that caused the fret you have to remove wood from either side of the
fret(s). The fret is the weakest point on the limb. Another option is to grind down the belly below the depth of the fret and add a belly overlay of a more compression strong wood.
  Nice looking bow BTW. You did a good job there. Your next one will be better.