board bow question

[J. Holden]

Hello All!  I have a few questions I'd like to throw out there:
- Can poplar be used as an accent stripe between two pieces of red oak?
- I'm looking for 50-55#.  What dimensions should I be looking for?
- Can one make a board bow with a reverse handle?

Looking forward to the answers!  Thanks guys,

Jeremy  

[Rich Evans]

Poplar wouldn't be my first choice, but I think it should work just fine. I am assuming you are making a stiff handle section, and at that weight you will be more than ok.  Never made a reverse handle, so I can't offer any info on that.

As far as dimensions, we need to know the intended length. I have a board bow I just got finished and it is 70" nock to nock and 50# @ 28" draw.  I am working on another board bow but it will be 68" nock to nock and 50#.  So I can't give you a thickness or dimensions until you give us more information.

[J. Holden]

Thanks for getting back to me Rich.  The poplar would be accent only and I would like the handle section to be stiff.  As far as dimensions go I was hoping for the shorter end of things.  Maybe 66"-68" tip to tip?  This would be my first build so I'm not sure what is typical.  But I know I'd like to have a smaller bow.  Any suggestions?  I'm thinking a backing of boo or I saw 3R's has hickory lams.

-Jeremy

[Broke another one]

I made a board bow 68 tip to tip alittle under 1/2" thick, with 1/2" tip to 3" fades at the handle. It shoot 60# @ 28". don't know if this helped any.

[John Scifres]

Are you talking about a composite/laminated  bow?  In other words, are you gluing 2 pieces of red oak together, one for the back and one for the belly?  If so, the recipe for those can be complicated.  But, assuming you got the recipe right and are making a tri-lam, just about anything can be used for the middle lam.

Or are you asking about the accent in the handle only?  If so, then the answer is yes.

Red oak should be 72" long, and 1.75" - 2" wide for a rigid handle 55# @ 28" bow.  

You can do a reverse handle if you like.  Make sure that the main board does not bend at all in the handle area.

[Roy from Pa]

John, I'm about ready to start my first red oak board bow. Why does a red oak bow need to be 72 inches long? I'm shooting for about 45 pounds at 27.5.

[Pat B]

I agree with what John said.

[David Holt]

Roy, I just made 2 red oak bows this weekend usind Tim Baker instruction in the back of the TBBV. My little brothers is 65" long 30#@26" and mine is 63"long and is 45#@26". Both weight about 12ounces and are dreams to shoot. Simple D bows made from red oak 1x2's in a weekend.

[Roy Steele]

Roy the longer and wider your limbs the less stress you have on them.

[Roy from Pa]

Thanks Roy, LOL Roy

[J. Holden]

Thank you so much for responding.  I'd like to place the poplar between a single piece of red oak and a smaller chunk of red oak for a handle.  I was looking at getting a single piece of 1"x2"x6' of red oak.  The handle piece would be about 10"'s long.  I was also going to back the bow with a hickory lam or some drywall tape.  Would this help in shortening the bow?  I was hoping for 66"-68" tip to tip.  Thanks again for the thoughts.

-Jeremy

P.S.  Glad I didn't buy anything yet!

[David Holt]

Jeremy,

The purpose of the backing like drywall tape is to prevent the wood fibers from splintering, cracking or complete failure depending on the strength of the backing you are using.  I used drywall tape on my first bow and although it was sufficient it used a lot of glue and made the bow limbs heavy and slow.  I use brown paper now almost exclusively on my red oak bows now and love it.  A huge roll costs the same as a roll of drywall tape and it will take a stain.  I'll post some picks of the bow I made my little brother.  Its camoed with stain and backed with paper.  It would also be a shame to cover the hickory lam with drywall tape.
 
 
 

[John Scifres]

A bend through the handle can be shorter than 72".

A 45# can be narrower but if it is rigid handle, I'd stick with the longer dimension.  After you have made a few bows, you can start tweaking the design but if you want a safe, overbuilt, durable red oak bow that doesn't follow the string by more than a couple inches, go with 72".

Don't back a bow just because.  If the back is good, a self bow will perform better.  If the back is not good, then you should look for another piece of wood, IMO.  Unless of course you just want to try it, then I highly recommend you go for it.  This is supposed to be fun.  Experimentation is fun.

When I cook a new recipe, I follow it exact the first couple times.  After I gain experience, I play around some.  But you have to build the foundation before you can start framing.  Learn how to remove wood.  Learn how different designs are going to work on woods.  Learn to tiller.  After you get those down, start playing around.  There is no way you are just gonna build one bow anyway.

My very first bow was a pretty aggressive hickory that folded on me because I ignored or didn't recognize a hinge.  The next 3 were Torges style and they are all still shooting.  They aren't great bows but I sure learned with them.  Then I made 20-30 successful bows that got better with each one and I don't think I broke one.  Then I started pushing the envelope and broke about every one.  7 in a row if I remember right.

It's all fun.  It's all good.

[Roy from Pa]

Thanks John, Roy

[J. Holden]

Thanks guys for the advice.  I guess I'm lookin' to make a shorter bow and thought a backing would be the way to help me get there.  I'd also like to have enough weight to hunt deer in NE.  They require a minimum of 50lbs.  So, I'm gonna have to build and see what happens.  Thanks for the pics!  And David, thanks for your service.

-Jeremy

[John Scifres]

You could do a bend in the handle design and go with 68".  Make it 1-3/4" wide and round the center 6" or so and leave it thicker.  Then as you tiller, make it really circular but leave it just bending a bit at the handle.  50# at 28" is very doable then.

[George Tsoukalas]

Here's some info. Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[David Holt]

Jeremy,

Like John said, experiment and have fun. Boards are cheap. Start out long and wide. Don't shoot for.a weight on your first but a bow that has well tapered limbs and slings an arrow. Learn from every one you make and ask lots of questions. This website is awsome and the guys are great.
Dave