New fabric backed bow question

[WILL CAROTHERS]

Hey guys! i just finished up  66" ntn longbow, it was from a 7/8 inch maple board, (1.5in wide taper from midlimb to about 1/2 inch tips) it came out to ~45 pounds @ 28, so its pretty good. I also cut in a 1/16 inch shelf) The top limb came out a little more positive than i hoped, but i dont want to lose any more weight.

When building, i put a light fabric backing of a poly-cotton shirt. i didnt like the look of it so i put over a thicker fabric backing of the same blend. When gluing this backing i induced ~ an inch of reflexto straighten it out. What are your thoughts on this whole thing. Will it add reflex, make no difference, will i gain or lose weight, or gain or lose performance.

Thanks for the help!

[Pat B]

The fabric backing will not add performance or hold the bow in reflex.  By adding the 2nd backing over the first you are adding unnecessary physical weight that can reduce performance.
  More is not always better.   You can remove the cloth backing by heating it and the glue to 150deg(F) and the glue will release. Just peel up the cloth backing(s) , sand the back and add another, more suitable backing. I use a heatgun to remove a faulty hickory backing and it worked great.

[k-hat]

A cloth backing won't do any work on a bow.  The only thing it will do is protect the back from lifting a splinter.  

How much positive tiller?  Pics would be a great help.  I'm assuming stiff handle?  Depending on how much working limb you have, you may have room to pike a bit to get more draw weight, but I'd definitely get that tiller right even if at the cost of a few pounds.  It may not take much to get'r right.  

I've never heat treated maple, but i'm assuming you can.  That would add some weight back in as well.

Hopefully some of the experts will come along and chime in.

[WILL CAROTHERS]

Im sorry, i meant that i had taken the other piece of fabric off, right now, all that im really concerned about is keeping it together, it was a cheap board, so why not experiment

[JamesV]

Will...........

You could shorten the bow to 64" pick up a few pounds and still be able to re-tiller the bow.
Just another option

James