making a pyramidal birch bendy handle bow, getting ready to back it. going out looking for silk, or if that fails linen today.
how many layers of cloth backing?
my only experiences are several Sam Harper specials, backed with fiberglass tape, and those you back with 3 layers.
One layer is plenty. Any more than that is just extra weight.
I've had good luck backing bows with brown paper bag material (like the kind used for wrapping, shipping, etc.) It provides a nice organic-looking surface that in reality is a veneer-thin wood backing (i.e. paper is just interlocking wood fibers.) I've also used lightweight canvas as backing. Although it stretches more than linen and doesn't possess the same strength properties, I do have good luck with it. I pre-stretch the strips of canvas first and apply them taught, much like you would a silk backing. I use Titebond III to apply both the paper bag and the canvas. Have fun and post some pictures!
thanks guys, will do a single stretched layer. i will post pics.
i've read here and on primarcher that the titebond II and III are both acceptable cloth backing glues, but i've read even more posts preferring titebond III. does it matter?
Any carpenter type glue, TiteBond, TBII, TBIII, or Elmer's will work fine. The reason folks like TBIII is it's waterproof properties but if you seal your bow after the glue dries it doesn't matter.
I've used them all with linen, silk and brown paper.
gunny sack looks good as a backing, go's on the same as cloth or paper