cherry wood and red oak bow?

[Sam86]

#5263

I have a bunch of cherry wood, red oak and popular I want to make a 3 piece lamination reflex takedown longbow. I’m guessing popular wouldn’t be good for the limbs so I would use red oak and the cherry, so should the cherry be the belly or the back? I’m going to use fiberglass for the backing. Second, should I reflex the limbs before I glue them together or after, and will a good wood glue work well for laminating them together? Third, does the end grain of the wood matter that much when you are laminating 1/8” pieces together?

[Troy Breeding]

#38931

Sam,

If you go at it the way you are thinking, your looking a wreck waiting to happen.

Cherry will work in the limbs for back and belly veneers under the glass. I’ve used them myself. However, the core wood should be either maple or bamboo.

As for oak? IMHO forget it.

Forget the wood glue as well.

If your wanting to build a glass laminate bow I suggest you check out Bingham prodjects and follow their guidelines to the tee.

Troy

[Dan Sweeney]

#39057

I’ve not made a lam bow, but cherry is very brash, or tension weak. It is light and snappy and does fine in compression, but you sure wouldn’t want to use it on the back. I’ve backed it with rawhide in selfbows. Not sure how that would compare with lam bows. Good luck and let us know!

[marinenelson]

#40630

I’m with Troy, find some plans and follow them. For the lamination process you will use a form for glue up. The thin laminates easily bend to the form, they are held there under pressure. When the glue cures, the limbs are permanently shaped like the form. Smooth-on is what I use for my bows (two part epoxy). If you have any questions about what supplies you actually need, look at Bingham. They have a lot more than you need, so if you don’t want to buy too much, ask one of us, maybe we can give you some more resources.

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