Well Im a new member to this site, but have lurked here from time to time. I have built 8 bows so far, with 2 still surviving. I have the basics down and my new project will be something a bit involved. I just bought some ipe, 6"x 3/4"x 36" with from what I can tell fairly straight grain. I just ordered a bamboo backing along with some take down bow sleeves. The overall plan is to make a 66" take down, flat bow, pulling 50lbs at 28". I plan to use resorcinol for the backing and epoxy to glue the bow sleeves to the limbs.
I will probably need to build up the belly side of the handle with a glued on riser to accomadate the internal dimensions of the sleeves.
Im wondering about a few things:
1.Will the bamboo be strong enough to take the compressive forces inside the sleeve?
2. If I have to thin the end of the bamboo that will fit in to the sleeve, can I scrape the back side or will I need to taper the bamboo from the belly side before glue up?
3.Any suggestions on how to induce reflex? The ipe is so stiff, I would have to taper the limbs before glue up to hope to achieve any type of bend.
4. This is my first try at using ipe as well as take down sleeves and bamboo. There are a lot of variables here. I plan to keep length as long as possible along with increased width while tillering. Get it to bend to about 50lbs at 25" and than start tillering for mass reduction from the sides. Anyone have any tips on the most efficient shape/ dimensions to aim for?