Grain and Backings..

[DD9000]

So silly question here,I have come up with while browsing the hardwood stacks looking for a board to turn into a bow.
I know when trying for an unbacked bow that obviously straight grain with no runouts is what you want.
I know that when you have enough run outs that you would want to back the bow with a straight grained backing.

So my question is this.
If you are already planning to back the bow Say with Straight grained hickory, would the worst board, say just a simple plain sawn board still work ok as long as it was from a desirable and dense wood?

Or to put it a different way  is there a board so bad that you cannot use it if it is backed?

Probably just over thinking this I know but I was curious..

[LittleBen]

even a backed board has limitations. The grain should be as straight as possible, but it doesn;t need to be selfbow straight.

Sever grain runout can cause problem even just for a belly lamination.

[DD9000]

Thanks Ben,
So out of curiosity what  would end up being the problems you might see.
I am thinking that the worse the grain the higher chance that the belly might develop frets, or would it even be a case of the belly could then crush and break?

Would not want to waste time on something that is not a good idea, but at the same time I am just kind of curious as to what happens.....
Sort of that watch a car accident impulse you know...

Dave

[Dan Landis]

Dave, think of it like this;  The more runouts or flaws you have in the belly wood the more work you are asking that 3/16" or thinner piece of hickory to do.  So, even if it does keep it from breaking, you'll more than likely end up with a poor performance bow.

[DD9000]

Dan,

Thanks, now that you phrase it that way it seems kind of obvious. Not sure why it did not occur to me that way before...
 One track mind here I guess and I get distracted by silly questions from time to time.

Dave