I am planning another bow with the yellow birch that I have. I was thinking of making a backed bow but have no idea which way to go. Would it be best to back the birch with hickory, bamboo or some such. my other thought is that the birch might be the backing for another belly wood. Other than the birch I don't have any woods on hand so I'm not constrained by using existing stock. If anyone has any ideas I would greatly appreciate it.
Razor

Heck rawhide would back a nice piece of birch, but hickory would even be better.

Thanks Dano.
I thought of rawhide and I may do one with that as well, but was looking for a different project and thus the wood laminate. Was hoping hickory would be a good option. What thickness makes an appropriate backing.

No more than 3/16" no less than 1/8"      I think I would try an 1/8". I wouldn't want to over power the birch.

I agree with Dano...again!  You could also use hard maple, elm or ash as a backing.

Thanks guys, i appreciate the input. Dano I think I will settle on 5/32" just to be safe    . How does grain orientation affect backing laminates. i was thinking quarter sawn  might give very good protection from splinters or runouts.

5/32" sounds good      Quarter sawn would be great.

You can always remove wood from the backing after glue-up if needed.

I must disagree with all of you. Hickory and boo are some tough backings. perfectly Suited for the most compression strong woods in the world.

but birch is ridiciously compression weak!!! the boo will crunch the birch in no-time. Already had this on maple-ipé trilams wich had too thin ipé... and both maple and ipé are way sronger in compression than birch.

if you're thinking about backing your bow with hickory/boo, be my guest    but don't say I didn't warn you! your's will stick together but those crunched bellies sure look ugly.

rawhide would be the best choice by FAR!

Nick

You could also just use the birch for a backing on your birch board.

Just saw off a thin strip from your board and glue it up with any profile you want.