what is the best way to back a hickory bow using bamboo? how to make it stick to the bow? how to make it more adhesive?
When using wood on wood or bamboo on wood I used Urac 185. Now unibond 800 since the first is almost obsolete.
These are the same glues that guitars are made with by amateurs .
Why do you think your hickory needs a bamboo backing?... hickory is already the strongest tension wood and used to back bows its self and if its a stave or properly chosen grained board, and nothings really wrong with it then its not needed IMHO.
if you left the outer cambium layer in tact on the back of the bow you should not need to back it with bamboo....as hickory is already one of the toughest woods...especially of white woods. If the back is violated that is a different story but many just remove outer bark and then use the inner layer as the back of bow. I am leaving most of the cambium on mine for a natural camo effect....
what is wrong with the bow where it might require a backing?
with hickory it is imperative that you keep the moisture content within limits...8-10% if I remember my TBB charts....6% being optimum with 10% being safest...and 8% being somewhere in the middle for a safe and efficient bow....more than that and it will take a set when you are stringing it for tillering and be lackluster in performance. Too dry and it will be brittle...but a overbuilt hickory bow is very durable. Here are some links to check out:
This one is by Murray Gaskins....followed it mostly for my first hickory bow except for some pointers from Trad Bowyer Bible and the moisture content/relative humidity charts inside...and some from The Bent Stick by Paul Comstock...but mostly from Mr. Gaskins article below.
http://www.murraygaskins.com/durable.html
Here is excerpt from TBB that talks moisture and gives a chart to use if you dont have moisture meter but have a relative humidity meter and thermometer for storage location.
http://books.google.com/books?id=dQT9krc53isC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=optimum+moisture+content+of+hickory+for+bow+wood&source=bl&ots=zg08vD4dF0&sig=bGQjNoIqSvX45S0XDiD2GLkTVeo&hl=en&sa =X&ei=nY1tUbPgNuGW2AW8x4DAAg&ved=0CFcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=optimum%20moisture%20content%20of%20hickory%20for%20bow%20wood&f=false (http://books.google.com/books?id=dQT9krc53isC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=optimum+moisture+content+of+hickory+for+bow+wood&source=bl&ots=zg08vD4dF0&sig=bGQjNoIqSvX45S0XDiD2GLkTVeo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nY1tUbPgNuGW2AW8x4DAAg&ved=0CFcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=optimum%20moisture%20content%20of%20hickory%20for%20bow%20wood&f=false)
http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/47809#.UW2KKUoTTTA
http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/16383#.UW2KJ0oTTTA
Buy this DVD and it will show you how, works with any type of wood..
http://www.3riversarchery.com/Hunting+the+Bamboo+Backed+Bow+DVD+Dean+Torges_i4433-1_baseitem.html
thank you. i left the yellow sap wood on the bow im working on now so i hope it will work.thanks