OK so I figure the worst that can happen is that I waste a bunch of time and wood. Here is my backing, and I know you're probably thinking "That looks a lot like a self bow." Well, it is. I've had this stave mostly roughed out for almost a year, and I figured it would be a good donor. It's 64 TTT and plenty wide.

I'm planning on using Vanillabear's idea of chasing a ring and then thinning it like bamboo before glue up. I guess I should prolly also heat that prop twist out of it lol.



Do you guys think I should make it about 1/8" like Hickory? Thinner? Thicker? Any theories, anecdotes, or cautionary tales are much appreciated.

Interesting thread, monkey. Keep it comin'.

Well I got the backing down to about 1/4 inch. If you guys felt a disturbance in the universe just now, it's because I just rasped away 90% of a perfectly good stave.  

QuoteOriginally posted by psychmonky:
Well I got the backing down to about 1/4 inch. If you guys felt a disturbance in the universe just now, it's because I just rasped away 90% of a perfectly good stave.      

I'm a glass laminate bow kind of guy and even I know that is just wrong.    :eek:

I would think the osage will over power the Ipe and cause frets on the belly...

I'm probably wrong.... I'll be watching this close as it is very interesting.

i hear wnat you are saying Joe, as i know that if your taper is not really good on the ipe- it will fret.
but if you can swing this Scott, its going to be a really cool bow.
interresting to see performance specs, against a HBO and BBO.
especially, as i presume -you are following ipe layout specs, narrow limbs, and light tips
awesome!!

am surprised though, that Joe didnt cuss you- i know that he holds the "gold"  very close to his heart  :D

I do plan to make it fairly narrow. I've thought about the issue of the osage overpowering the Ipe, and all I can come up with is just to make the osage as thin as possible, like less than 1/8"...    

Here it is having some of the twist forced out. I'll prolly heat it and let it cool at least one more time. The only reason I'm even bothering is that I want to try and get as uniform a thickness as I can.

Sorry about the size...PB is being idiotic

So here is a question from my amateur brain: the back of this backing has lots of hills and valleys where I chased the ring. should I leave them and have the back of the bow be non uniform and natural? Or should I just sand both sides flat like this?:



I realize that it would violate my ring, but I didn't know how much that would matter if it was glued to the Ipe anyway. My main concern about leaving it au natural is putting uneven amounts of stress on the Ipe in the spots where the Osage is thicker or thinner. What do you guys think?

the way i see it, to ensure an even taper on the ipe- is to "tiller" the osage- and make it a parralel by following the back ring by removing wood on the belly.
or just leave that to the real tillering, and take off as your gizmo says. if the tiller is good, and no hinges- maybe the ipe wont fret.
just talking- never done this befor.
great "think along"

could sand both sides flat, and put a rawhide or silk backing, but that would defeat the purpose of the cool osage backing!

Fugi, I decided to make the belly side of this thing match the back, so I thinned it some more and now if there is a hump in the back, there is is a bit of a dish in the belly to match. That way the thickness is pretty uniform.

To insure good wood to wood contact, I still wanted to smooth the waves out as much as possible, rather than just rely on clamp pressure. I decided to see if heating some reflex into it would help iron all the squiggles out.... It helped a little, but I'll just have to see tomorrow when I unclamp it how wavy it still is.

Hey! I resized it!!! But I used Imgur instead of PB...

this is getting better and better.
love your idea

You need help Scott. Help, and a giftcard to st. Charles hardwood. Let staves be staves and lumber be lumber.    

Dave if it helps you can just think of it like a really thin self bow that I'm gluing a belly strip to in order to increase the draw weight  

there we go, thats perfect  

Well when you put it that way...lol