Reverse brace for paper backing?

[Loope]

I have started a red oak pyramid board bow, and am planning to back with brown paper.  Using a tablesaw, I cut the limb thickness to 1/2 inch and have now cut the limbs to shape.  I have only smoothed the saw marks, but not started finish tillering, not even floor tillering.

I noticed a slight bow in the board that either I missed on the original board, or maybe the wood "shifted" when sawing the limbs out.  So, I have about 1/2" string follow before starting to flex the wood.  Since I am backing this, could I add some reflex with reverse bracing a couple inches before putting on the paper?  I know this can be done with sinew, but since paper has less stretch, what are opinions on using it to give some reflex?  Good? Bad? Avoid at all costs? Not worth the effort?

Thanks,
Loope

[Blaflair2]

I don't think it's gonna help any. Steam it and put some reflex if u want. But paper and glue won't cut it

[JW_Halverson]

Paper just won't have the "juice" to hold the reflex, neither will rawhide (unless it is horribly thick), linen, canvas, or snakeskin.

If you are dealing with a half inch of string follow, my suggestion is to let it be.  So what's a little string follow?  Just be careful in your tillering to not add any further string follow.  If it just gnaws on your heart at night leaving you sallow complected and hollow eyed at work the next day, use a heatgun and heat treat a little reflex into the board before tillering. 

Be sure to  post pics of your progress, friend.  Everyone here prefers to look aat pictures.  Especially me because I can't read.

[Joec123able]

I don't see paper doing anything as a backing I would imagine it tearing as a backing if anything But hey I've never tryed it so I'm just assuming

[bubby]

Like jdub said if you want to induce some reflex use a heat gun, don't go overboard on the reflex or the heat

[Bryce]

I reverse braced and glued on cherry bark....did nothing. I don't think paper will either.

[PatM]

Bows were very successfully backed with "paper" back in the day but we are talking about a greater thickness of material, likely in the neighbourhood of 1/8 inch.
 Paper Micarta has greater tensile strength than linen Micarta despite having none of the linear fibers of linen. Go figure that one out.

[JW_Halverson]

But paper is made out of...(wait for it)...WOOD! And we all know wood's best use is to make a bow!  So maybe a paper micarta bow wouldn't exactly be "primitive", but it's still better than training wheels!   

[Loope]

Thanks for the advice and thoughts.  Gonna get back on it this weekend.

[JW_Halverson]

Thanks for the advice and thoughts.  Gonna get back on it this weekend.

Good luck on the project, post pics of your progress!

[mikekeswick]

I'd always wondered about using micarta as a belly lam......never got round to it but a friend of mine has access to big pieces now without the usual ridiculous price.....

[vinemaplebows]

Paper in my opinion is a better backing than most think....like metioned, it is assentially wood. I have had great success with paper drywall tape.

VMB

[Loope]

Well, I glued on the paper, but ended up stripping it off.

I sized the back of the bow with TB3 thinned with a little water and allowed to dry overnight, then used TB3 to apply the dry paper.  I let the glue set about 30 minutes and then had what I thought was a great idea.  I mixed a little black aniline dye with TB3 and water to make a black paint and applied this liberally to the paper.  I had hoped it would be thin enough to saturate the paper.

After a few days, I started trimming the tips to apply some overlay and realized that the paper was "raw" in the middle, the glue had not soaked into the paper.  When I cut into the paper at the tips, it peeled apart.  The outer layer and what was against the wood both seemed strong, but the center was just dry paper.  I was concerned that this would not hold up so I scraped it all off and will need to start over, that is, if I still back it.

Any thoughts?  Should I have soaked the paper in glue first to saturate?

Thanks,

Loope

[Loope]

That was a picture with my black glue painted on.  Here is the raw bow itself.

[PatM]

Use Epoxy. You want to give the adhesive time to soak through. I don't think priming with TB is a good idea if you let it dry. I' haven't heard much good about any glues apart from hide glue having the capacity to bind well to a dried/cured coat of the same substance.