raw hide or sinew backed or both

[tishtail]

Hi all wanted your opinions on my next move i'm making a longbow with a bunch of different options as i go along 1st it started as a board bow from red oak then had a built up handle of oak and mohogany real nice fades but i tillered to much so i added a hickory back to it now its a real monster pulling about 80lbs at 28inches want hit 60-65 so its going nicely,  thought since i'm this far i wanted sinew over hickory but i've read that it's not weather proof so why not put rawhide over it but i've never work with ether any thoughts? thanks i will post pictures when done. Lawrence

[Stiks-n-Strings]

If you already backed it with hickory you won't gain anything by backing it with rawhide. I wouldn't waste good sinew on it either. If you are already over weight just take it slow and sneak up on your final tiller.

 Save your rawhide and sinew for better uses

[Bowjunkie]

I concur. If the hickory backing is a good, sound piece, there's no reason to back the backing.

[tishtail]

Thanks for the reply i was using this bow as a training bow tring different things, hickory backing is good very sound, if the backing is good, can i round the belly of bow for quicker return from limbs, more speed? thanks LjT

[Pat B]

Red oak will show less set with a flat belly.

[fujimo]

i have only been reading about it- never done it- but maybe you could "trap"  the back.
lighten up the weight, help stop the hickory from overpowering the oak( shouldnt be a real problem though) would look interresting, and be a good learning time!!

[Bowjunkie]

Something else to keep in mind... rawhide is not really any more waterproof than sinew, so it's not going to protect your sinew from absorbing moisture. Both of them need a good finish applied and adequate care/storage afterwards.

How thick was the hickory backing you applied? Is thinning it an option? I'm concerned about you taking 20 pounds of weight off of the belly side, and how that might change the ratio of hickory to oak... to the point that the hickory is in danger of crushing the belly.

By "tillerd too much", did you mean that you tillered it too much in one spot, causing a weak area in the limb, or that you tillered too much overall, causing the bow too come in under target weight?

[Pat B]

With a hickory backed red oak bow you can tiller from the belly, the back or from both sides. If you find the belly is getting too thin, thin the hickory backing some, Trap the back and/or tiller from the sides, reducing the width.

[tishtail]

Thanks for the reply the hickory is .25[inches] thick oak belly seams now to be about.35[inches]thick looks about right proportions,  i didn't have any hinges i'm using a micrometer checking every 3 inches up and down both limbs had some differents but will adjust each limb within several hundreds and then do the final tiller bow feels nice looks very d-shaped should turnout as i first planed. thanks for the help and support.LjT

[fujimo]

build a tillering gizmo tishtail- its the answer!!!!!!!

[razorback]

.25" hickory seems awful thick. I would follow the suggestions of Pat and others,and reduce weight by thinning the hickory. From what I've read and been told, .12 is about where you want your hickory backing for Osage and Ipe and then thinner for woods not as strong. May be wrong but hopefully others will chime in on this.

[tishtail]

i've been off tradgang for about two weeks and are returning to reply to fujimo i do use and have used for sometime a gizmo and i just started to use the micrometer to verfie my tillering it helps with my confidence so i don't worry i missed something along the way it also slows me down for a better finished bow i personally want a finished working bow just for my  self gradification and not for anyone else makes me fell better and i went back and remeasered hickory backing it is tapered .25 center to .14 inches at tip sorry for the incorrect info bow seems to be doing fine looks real nice shape i did have aquestion on the fades is there a rule to follow on how far to fade into bow limbs from handle my handle with tapered fades is 10 inches and i have about 6 inches of tapered fades till i get to the working on each side of handle this long bow stands at 72inches 70 inches tip to tip thanks for any help past or present. LjT

[razorback]

Tishtail, lets get some photo's of this bad boy up. We love to see photo's of everyone's babies growing up.