Lamination

[Doods70]

Hi bowyers. I have a project this summer and I need help because its totally unfamiliar territory and I cant find any info on the net.

I have a PSE Snake Bow, 22lbs. To be honest its feels great and very smooth. Its just too light. If ever they decide to make this at 40 lbs, i would be all over it. Anyway, i wanted to back this with either bamboo or fiberglass strips. The bow is made of some poly carbonate material and was hoping to ask which will be better to add at least 15 lbs to it. Bamboo back or fiberglass strip? And any tutorials on how to do this. Thankyou

[Doods70]

Would raw hide be better? And approx how many pounds will it add? Thank you

[SportHunter]

I would sell it and upgrade. By time you figure glass, glue and shipping you would be ahead buying a good used bow like a Bear Grizzly or Red Wing Hunter. These would be miles ahead of the entry level PSE.

[KenH]

That Snake sells for under $40 most places.  I agree with SportHunter.  Sell what you've got on CraigsList for $30 and put that money toward a good used bow or something like a new Attila's Archery U-Finish bow in a draw weight that you want.

The cost of material that would increase the draw weight (fiberglass, not any of the other backings you mentioned) plus glue ($18 minimum for a pint kit of Smooth-On)plus shipping ($10 or more) just isn't worth it.

[Doods70]

Thank you

[Doods70]

Thank you, I have other bows, but was just interested in learning the process as a summer project. Thanks again.

[KenH]

Ah... Process.  

If you want to learn the process of making a composite bow, you're best off starting with all the raw materials, not just trying to tack a piece on the back of an existing bow.

Backing a bow is done for two reasons:
1) to prevent splinters from arising on the back due to "not perfect" grain or other issues. Silk cloth, linen cloth, burlap, rawhide, thin leather all work to do this.  You could certainly do this to the bow you have, and it will look different, but the draw weight will not be increased.  Titebond or contact cement will work just fine here.

2) to work with a wooden core and horn belly and increase the draw weight over "just wood" or wood and horn composites.  Only animal sinew or fiberglass designed for bow making will do this properly.  

A wood core between two pieces of fiberglass is the modern equivalent of a wood-horn-sinew bow.  You could add a strip of fiberglass to the back of that existing bow to increase the draw weight but it would require really good epoxy like Smooth On, and a lot of clamps or other way to hold the strip in place while the glue dried.  

Being in the Phillipines, those are going to be very expensive to obtain just to "mess about".  Better to read up here on the process of making your own wood-glass composite bow, ask lots of questions, order all the stuff you need, and have us talk you through the process and get it right without any major mistakes.  

To make a simple recurve bow you do not need fancy, expensive pressure hose forms and bow ovens.  You can make a good form from a piece of 2x10 lumber, some dowels, and bicycle innertube rubber bands.  

Here's a link to the discussion about building my very complex deeply recurved Scythian bow.  You can see the kind of form I used:   http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=011534#000000