backing osage?

[eman614]

a buddy of mine brought me and old pearson osage longbow that was backed with paper. the paper is delaminated and  the friend wants to shoot the bow. my question is can i back in with fiberglass or is that a no no?

thanks in advance, Eric

[fujimo]

i would use thin deer rawhide or silk.
glued on with TB3

[Pat B]

I agree with fujimo. Glass would be wy too strong for the belly. Be sure you exercise that bow well to retrain it to bend and recver before you start shooting it.
 Is the bow made of osage or lemonwood? Got any pics?

[eman614]

i'm pretty sure its osage. i will try to get some pics up later this evening.

would it have a better chance/ be more durable if i used hickory or boo to back it?

[Pat B]

If the wood is osage then hickory or boo would work. Of the two I'd go with thin hickory.
 Osage that old would be almost black. Lemonwood would be a dark golden color.

[eman614]

interesting, it may be lemonwood. its not black but its not exactly golden brown either. i didn't get any pics tonight, but i'll try and get some tomorrow. what will the lemonwood look like once its sanded?

[Pat B]

Lemonwood should be light yellow to a golden color. One noticable thing about lemonwood is its lack of growth rings. Being a tropical wood its growing season last all year. It has a smoother consistance as far as looks go too.

[Bowjunkie]

Old aged lemonwood looks dark olive-colored to me.

[PEARL DRUMS]

That's not a paper back Eric. I cant remember what its called? But, its not paper. Does it have a fiberglass appearance?

[Roy from Pa]

Back it with silk, then put a snake skin on top of the silk.

[Pat B]

Some of those old bow did have paper backings. In the York catalog the selfbows were $7 and the ones with paper backings were $9.

[eman614]

alright i got some pics together.
this is the belly
 

this is the back minus the backing
 

close up of the belly
 

close up of the back without the backing.
 

full pic of the bow
 

[eman614]

pearl, it looks like white poster board. here are a couple pics of it as well.

 

 

[Pat B]

That looks like lemonwood to me. Those backings were compressed paper I think.

[Roy from Pa]

That is a sweet bow design there..

[eman614]

so , will it ever shoot again? what would be the best backing to use to get it to shoot again, if it can?

[Eric Krewson]

Rawhide or hickory, rawhide would be the easiest.