Curly maple board bow

[Ltodd5]

I’m wanting to make a curly maple board bow with fiberglass backing. I’ve read that curly maple does not do well and have read that it does ok. Does anyone have any experience with this? I would think that the irregular grain would be ok if I back with fiberglass, the belly would be my only concern. Am I thinking right or would this be a waste of time? Thanks for the advice and input!

[Pat B]

We don't deal with FG backed bows here.   

[bownarra]

But to answer your question....
Glass is many times stiffer than wood. The only way to make a decnt glass bow is to use glass back and belly, with wood as a 'spacer' between to give the poundage you want.
Putting glass onto the back only of a bow is asking far too much of the wood belly, it will either take massive set or chrysal.
Curly maple would be a great veneer to use under glass but it has little compressive strength and I wouldn't recommend using it for a belly even with a suitable back like rawhide,sinew etc...

[Dances with squirrels]

I made a bamboo backed curly maple d/r longbow once. It was the most beautiful thing... until I flexed it. By the time I got it tillered to half draw, there were more frets in the belly of that bow than any I've ever seen.

[Eric Krewson]

I can only speak as a gun builder who uses curly maple, the curls are as hard as a rock, the area between them is soft and splintery, great for looks but not for a stable bow limb in my opinion.

I have had curly osage fail in a bow but never tried maple so I a only speculating based on how much of the stuff I have put a chisel to.

[Yooper Bowyer]

Welcome aboard! What led you here?

FG is considered the devil material here. You would be wise to stick with natural materials.

Even the slight wrinkles in grain in maple boards can cause frets in my experience.

[Ltodd5]

Thanks for the replies. I was mostly asking how the curly maple would hold up, fg is just what I had that I could use for backing, didn’t mean to step on any toes. I kinda figured the curly maple would be a bad choice for bow wood though. I’ve been reading posts here for a while and finally signed up.

[Hamish]

 The thinner the glass you use the less compressive strain you will get, on the belly. I have made wood(bubinga) bows backed with fg, without chrysals) they worked but they took a fair bit of set,2.5-3".

You could try the thinnest clear glass you can find, a thin curly maple strip just under it for looks. Then you could add a piece of genuine proven bow quality wood like ipe, osage Etc, for the belly. Glue up 1-1&1/2" of reflex and you should be okay.

Bowyers used this method at the start of the fibreglass era, in the late 1940's. However they learnt that it was quicker and easier to manufacture commercially lots of bows, with pre tapered lams, and fg back and belly.