How much stronger does a backing make a selfbow

[Deer Slayr]

Like I asked above how much stronger does a backing make a selfbow???

[Springbuck]

Depends on the thickness and the material of the backing..

  Do you mean strength against failure or do you mean adding draw weight?

  As a general example, if you have a limb 1/2" thick and you add 1/16 thickness, the limb will be twice as strong.

  If you put on a thin fabric backing, maybe only a little difference, but if you add bamboo or hickory, you will almost certainly have to retiller.

  Also, be sure the backing is appropriate for the belly material.  Clos th works with many things because it is thin and does not move the neutral plane much, but bamboo is so strong it can overpower most weaker woods.

[Deer Slayr]

Thanks. I just want to make sure my bows do not break. Thanks Brandon

[Pat B]

Proper tillering and paying attention to grain will get you closer to a successful bow than backing it to keep it from breaking. The only time I back a bow is if the wood is not appropriate for a self bow.     Pat

[tim-flood]

wood twice as thick is 8 times as strong, wood twice as wide is only twice as strong.  if you held two 25 lb bows side by side and pulled them both you would have a 50 lb bow but if you gluded them together on top of each other you would have a 200 lb bow.  That is why it is so easy to make kids bow when you are starting out ;-)

[Roy Steele]

Backing is use'lly thin 1/16" to 1/8".It's there to hold down stliters.It adds mass to your limbs this why you keep it as thin as posable.I'd say the pounds depends on materal and how thick.I don't have any figures but say only a few pounds at the most.The only matural that adds real pounds would be sinew.The only backing that the poundage out weighs the mass your adding to your limbs.

[broketooth]

ive been told that hickory is a great selfbow wood. pat said that he doesn't put a backing on a bow unless the wood he is usingis innappropriate... my question is why do people use rawhide backing on hickory .. like my longbow

[broketooth]

my question got answered a few threads down.... now i know ...  thanx