Best Glue For Laminating Bows

My personal favorite is smooth on but other bowyers may have opposing opinions based on their experiences.

Best glue for laminating bows.

When laminating curved wood woodworkers need an adhesive that won t stretch or pull away at the edges. Trilam one 2oz part a resin one 2oz part b hardner specially formulated 2 part glue for laminating bamboo various woods linen silk and other natural materials as well as fibreglass with the strength you need. Wood to wood adhesion. For laminate bows the glue and laminate strips are secured in a mold of sorts which applies a bend to the limbs.

As the laminates pieces dry they remain in the shape provided by the mold. Let me explain my rankings. Gluing your bow laminations or bow backing is a critical part of the bow building process. All of these glues work well for fiberglass to wood adhesion.

Ea 40 clear epoxy adhesive is transparent after curing. Ea 40 clear epoxy adhesive is used to laminate small strips of wood together to form intricate patterns. A laminated bow offers more options as far as wood combinations and design goes. Use bow building glue that can handle the stresses of a bow s limbs.

4 oz kit includes enough for 2 bows or 2 glue up joints i g. Catalyzed glues which top my list include urac 185 resorcinol and smooth on ea40. Regular glues which i find useful are hide glue liquid hide glue titebond aliphatic resin franklin white glue and titebond ii in declining order of usefulness and importance to the bowyer. This is possible because each laminated strip becomes attached to each other via the epoxy thus they remain bent.

But before a persons gets to the point that the benefits of laminating are outweighing the extra troubles a laminated bow creates you have to do some serious experimenting and to expect some failed bows. Such a glue is urea formaldehyde also known as plastic resin. I use smooth on for gluing up fiberglass laminated bows as well as bamboo or hickory backed bows. The bond created by the ea 40 clear epoxy adhesive is so strong that it easily holds these tiny laminated strips in place under the rigors of shooting a bow.

The laminated block is then milled to shape revealing the intricate design. I also use it for gluing on tip overlays and back of the handle overlays.