Glass Thickness Question

[Johan van Niekerk]

Hi,

I'm planningmy first laminated bow and need a bit of advice. Is it better to use a thicker glass (bowtuff) on the belly than on the back? I.e. 0.04 on the back and 0.05 on the belly. I want maximum performance and have been getting conflicting advice. Though this is the best forum to ask the question on  

Thanx in advance.

[BenBow]

The guys doing the Walk the Talk bow test seem to thing the faster bows have thinner belly glass and are trapped to the belly. Seems counter intuitive but their numbers show this is true.

[Johan van Niekerk]

trapped to the belly? Sorry, not sure I know what you mean?
The thinner bit I get, and I must admit, it definately seem counter intuitive.

[Jason Scott]

When I started making long bows I took some advice from Mark Horn. He was using .040 back and .050 belly on some u-finish bow blanks he was selling. Since then I have seen other bowyers, including the wtt guys and they do the opposite. But they (wtt) are mostly after speed than durability I suppose and some of them thin their glass down considerably from what I can tell. I trap the belly when I do it. Belly is more narow than the back. Seems you loose less draw weight this way and still acheive light tips when doing it. If you intend to loose five pounds or more then trapping the back may be the ticket. I've never done that because I want all the weight I can keep. Black widow traps the back but I'm sure they figure that into their stack. As far as the glass goes, I don't know what is best. There is a good bowyer by the name of Bob Sarrels that uses the thinner glass on the belly and his shoot very well. I may try it some day. I think the important thing for durability is to keep the glass at 20 to 25 percent of the total stack.

[Johan van Niekerk]

Thanks    That answers my question very nicely