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Pat1107:
Gus sorry about that meant to say 1/8 inch

Gus:
No Worries Pat...

I'm hoping that someone with a little more experience will chime in here...
But I have to question Red Oak's ability to stand up the the strain that the Hickory Backing would put on it.
Hickory is some pretty tough stuff in Tension, is it possible that it was too much for the Red Oak to take in compression?
I read the build along where Hickory is mentioned as another form of backing, but that the author of the piece did not use it on that bow.
He also mentions that 1/8 inch may be too much.

Or another possibility...
When you were tillering the bow, did you pull the bow past your target weight?

-gus

gstoneberg:
Red oak is more suited to longer bows.  I think 60" with a stiff handle is too short to handle the stress.  You have to do a real good job tillering osage to keep from getting set in a 60" stiff handled bow.  I'm really surprised you didn't end up with a broken bow or chrysals on your red oak belly with a strong backer like hickory.  It must have been a great piece of red oak.  There's a sticky pointing to Jawge's web site at the top of the How To's and Build-a-long section.  He has a lot more experience with board bows than I do and will steer your down the right path.

Having said that, your bow had real nice lines to it in the picture and looked to be bending nicely at brace.  Looked like a  good first bow to me.   If all you can get are 5' red oak boards, build a bend through the handle bow to get longer working limbs.  Or, see if you can find a hickory or maple board to build your next bow out of.  I shortened a hickory backed hickory board bow for a friend a few months ago that was nicely done and shot well.  I have a maple backed birch blank ready to cut out and tiller.  If you can get access to other hardwoods there's no end of possible lamination combinations to try.

Good luck,
George

Pat1107:
Hey guys thanks for the help. Gus i will try a thinner hickory next time maybe that will help. The reason i used hickory was because I wanted a all wood bow, and the build along used sheet rock tape. Im more into a more natural look. I am also anxious to try other woods just because I know that red oak is not the greatest but its pretty cheap and easy to deal with....Gstoneberg I already have a longer bow started so we will see if that makes a difference. Im surprised, and happy the thing didnt explode on me, but in the end it was the hickory that cracked and that was due to my wood being alot weaker near the fades. Anyways thanks for the compliments and the help.

MtDent:
My first bow (that I'm still in the process of tillering) is a red oak 68" with a bendy handle and no backing. I got crappy grain with a swirl, a few run offs and some hard spots. It torques a lot around the end of the limbs... but like you said, red oak isn't the best and its better to get the practice in with the cheap wood than to make mistakes on the expensive stuff first.

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