Question on glued riser

[Stinger]

I have several bows that my dad made some 35+ years ago and want to reshape the riser to fit my hand better.  The question I have has to do with the way the boards were glued to form the riser.  In most custom bows seen today the boards were glued together such that when the bow is laying flat you see the different variations of the wood.  He didn't do that and instead glued them up so that you see the pieces when looking at the bow from a front or rear profile.  I have included a picture to give you a better idea of what I am talking about.  In this case 3 pieces of maple were glued together to form this riser.  Dad said that he felt this gave the riser more strength.  He also made some risers from a single block of wood and I have a picture of one he made from walnut.

Now, in both of these pictures I have already reshaped the riser to fit me better, but I have another glued up riser that is shaped just like these that I want to remove much more wood from.  Specifically I want to reduce the overall thickness of the grip itself so that my hand wraps around it easier.  My question for you builders is, do you think I can get away with this on the riser that is glued up in this fashion?

 

 

[macbow]

Just Beautiful. The weakest spot on these risers is at the deepest part of coarse. If you plan to remove any more from this area I'd be afraid. I had a production bow break when I removed wood from the back of the riser to flatten it out for a bowfishing reel. It broke when at full draw on a monster carp.

Since there doesn't appear to be any phenolic to strengthen the riser beware.

This is a bow that sounds like it cannot be replaced.
Might be better to just look at it.
Ron

[Stinger]

Thanks to Don S for calling them what they are - I beam risers.  I also moved the question over to the collectors forum to see what the refinishing guys might have to say.

Macbow,  Exactly what my concern was.  The solid walnut riser one shoots just fine - I took a 7 point with it 2 years ago and then retired it.  The maple one pictured here has limbs that are too heavy for me, but I know how to reduce the weight.  I have another one though that is in rougher shape.  Dad built the basic bow and then gave it to a friend to finish.  The guy did a terrible job.  The sanding was poor and the finish on both the riser and limbs look like a 4 year old put it on with a mop and a can of paint.  That is the one I want to work on.  My plan was to reshape and refinish the riser, redo the 1/4 inch brass carriage bolts used for the bow bolts with something nicer and probably smooth the limbs and have them dipped.  The guy gave the bow back to Dad and he gave it to me so there isn't as much emotional attachment as the two shown here.  Dad still has all of his forms and the heat box and even some of the old dark green glass for the limbs and is ready to send it out when I'm ready to take a stab at making them.  I'm not anywhere close in that department to where you guys on this thread are though.  You guys do some awesome work.