Belly Frets?

[okie64]

         

[Inuumarue]

I shoot a bow with frets in it all the time, held up fine for me. The real problem is if the frets spread and your tiller starts to change because of them. Purpleheart is just one of those woods that fret a lot, even in a well made bow.  

Adam

[Aznboi3644]

if the frets are spread out on the limb than it is uniformly strained.

If its centralized on one part of the limb I may spread the bend out from it.

I have a maple bow with frets on the lower limb...I still shoot it and it holds up fine...I've dropped the weight some and retuned the tiller to move some bend.

[KellyG]

[hova]

i dont see frets. that looks like your finish has lifted...am i missing something?


0hov

[Pat B]

Purpleheart is bad about fretting. I have a purpleheart stave that I've been contemplating for over 10 years and I just can't make myself make a bow with it.  It sure pretty coupled with hickory.
  Frets are compression fractures. You can't get rid of them unless you grind down below them and overlay something over it; a patch. You can relieve them by removing wood from either side or the fret(s). You will have to retiller both limbs and end up with lighter weight.
  Another option is to grind down both limbs on the belly and add a compression strong wood like osage or ipe and retiller as a trilam.

[Osagetree]

I see them. Pats got good advice!

[okie64]

Thanks for the advice guys. I took my time and was really patient tillering this bow. I thought I had it perfect so I guess I'm glad to hear that about purpleheart.
Hova, you could barely see em when I had truoil on the bow, but after I applied that epoxy resin they really stood out. Kinda like everywhere there was a fret an air bubble popped up.
Pat I know what youre sayin about addin a belly lam and I might try that someday. I made this bow a few years back and its just been hangin on the rack so I figured I'd get some other opinions on it. It is really pretty wood just not very good compression wood I guess. It is extremely hard wood. As for that purpleheart stave you got I know exactly what u mean. I got a bunch of black locust that I just cant make myself use because ive heard it frets really bad. I'd rather spend my spare time workin on osage or hickory.

[Pat B]

I'm finally starting to work on locust again after many years. I cut my bow building teeth on locust but failed miserably with most attempts so I set it aside for better options. I'm working on 2 locust bows now. d;^)

[Art B]

I love purpleheart for arrow footings but gave up on the wood for bows after my first failure from frets. You might try trapping the limb's sides heavily to relieve some compression. Haven't had a whole lot of luck with locust either. But to be honest, I haven't really had a prime piece to work with either. Junk locust wood usually doesn't work too well for bows    .........Art

[hova]

ok ,, i thought the bubbles were the frets , but i couldnt see any other damage or anything that would show why you got bubbles...

glad to see i am not crazy. i thought frets would look similar to frets on a guitar neck...

good luck with it!

-hov

[Art B]

Hova, the frets are the knife like marks inside the epoxy bubbles. You have to look close to see 'em. Often the wood looks like it's been cut with a razor blade/knife..........Art

[hova]

ok i see them now... some reason i just couldnt see them little lines. i thought in the last photo i could see some slightly lighter colored bards going sideways where the frets are , but that is probably just the lighting...


i was looking for more of crack. must be thinking of chrsals..


-hov

[Pat B]

Frets, chrysals, both are compression fractures just different names.

[okie64]

I've never tried trapping a bow before but I think I know what youre sayin Art. I have a router and lots of bits. Im guessin that would be the best way to do it? If I did trap it, how narrow should I go on the back? The bow is 1.5 inches wide. Should the back be narrowed to about an inch or so?

[Art B]

Don't know if I would use a router for the trapping job Okie64. Make your back about an inch wide as you mentioned. Using a rasp/file/scraper/sanding block (in that order) would make a quick job of things........Art