Stacksize and overall taper ratio, fadeout to tip ?

[Gundog68]

What is your recommend overall taper between stacksize at fadeout and the size at the tip.

Most of my bows are using 3 tapered (0.002) lams so there is something like a whip tiller at the end. Overall ratio is about 0.54 (Example: 9.47mm Stack at Fadeout, 5.15 mm at the tip).
I know a lot of people use no taper at all.
Pro Cons:
With a lot of taper there is less mass to move if you launch a arrow. It is not easy to tiller, and you can not get much tension in the string, because the tips bend to early.

With lesser taper, you can get more tension to the string, but gets much more mass in the limb to the tips. But such a bow is maybe more robust ?
Maybe lesser taper , can better launch heavier arrows ?  Lesser taper is also easier to tiller, i think.

Also affects can be a tip wedge etc. ... thats another story.

What is your best ratio in case of speed for a 9 gpp arrow ?


Thanks,

Gundog

[Trux Turning]

Gundog- What type/style of bow are you building? .006 is a lot a taper unless you're building a hill style bow. I use .003 and a tip wedge in my R/D bows.

[Walt Francis]

I use.004 - .005 and tapper from 1.25 to .35 - .40 at the tips, depending on the desired weight, on a moderate R/D longbow.  Remember, you can take off approximately a 4 to 1 ratio of the width compared to the depth and maintain the same weight; the narrower the tip, and more importantly the limb, the less mass.  However, speed isn't everything, ultimately it comes down to the "FEEL" of the bow when an arrow is released.  In the words of Tim Lott, dead is dead, the animal doesn't care much. I'm still experimenting with the ratios to find what's right for the profile of my R/D's.  Your ratios will differ, dependent on the stack, width, Taper, and materials used.  Lots of variables to account for.

[Gundog68]

Originally posted by Trux Turning:
Gundog- What type/style of bow are you building? .006 is a lot a taper unless you're building a hill style bow. I use .003 and a tip wedge in my R/D bows.

Most of my bows are a mild R/D Bow. I tried an aggressive R/D also.. but the optic of the strung bow does not look good ;-)

[Swissbow]

I guess it depends what you're looking for. If you want maximum energy stored during the draw then I would go with less taper, because you get higher preload of the string. Now to get a good return of that invested energy the tips of the limbs need to be very thin. I would also consider trapping the limbs to reduce the mass even more. The only problem with such a design is, that the bow will probably feel harder to draw and you might have to reduce the draw weight to still be able to shoot it comfortably.
My bows in general have a taper somewhere from 0.004-0.006. This is for mild and pronounced d/r-profiles. I prefer a bow that is nice to shoot, because when sitting for hours in a blind or tree stand it's good to know you're not at/over the limit with your draw weight.
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Andy

[Gundog68]

My 0.006 taper bows shoot fine and fast. But as you wrote "preload" can be higher with less taper. I do not have the time to build a lot of bows (one a year) so think there must be a given well recommend "best of combination" compromise.

[Canadabowyer]

Here is my D/R design. First built it with .004 total taper. Shot nice and pretty quick. Tried .002 and upped the speed a little but was a little harsher on the draw. Finally after about 30 bows went to .003 as a compromise for speed and smooth draw. I prefer the .003 taper but some prefer the .002 for the extra speed but I think the smooth draw is more important for me.The speed difference is only a few fps.I am not giving actual fps numbers because it can vary more on how the bow is set up than the change in taper rate.  Bob

[Swissbow]

I don't think that there is "the best" combination regarding taper rate and stack size. It's always a trade off. If you want more speed you loose on the handling and eventually also on stability. On the other hand if you want a bow that is nice to draw and shoot then you will loose on the performance. It also depends on the bow profile you're using. Lots of reflex and only little deflex will add speed but the bow might get nervous. The more deflex you add for stability the more you will loose on performance.
Adding tip wedges might help gain some performance and also keep the string angle on the safe side. But again with some profiles they work fine and with others not at all.

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Andy

[Crooked Stic]

I think a lot of where want to go depends on how much you want to experment. Do you want to build for chrono numbers or do you want durable and good behaving bow. I have been down both paths. getting to respectable speed aint that hard then after thatit seems every little thing may gain but just a little--then you think is it worth it. And is it gonna blow with the next shot.So unless you got a lot of time and extra money you may be better off not going too far off already proven stuff and be safe. I know eveybody wants a fast bow but you want durable also.
What I am saying is to get both you are gonna be somewhere in between. A good bowyer is not gonna let something out that wont hold up for good reasons. There are some out there with impressive performance but most of these guys have done a lot of testing and know what will work.
You can manipulate those radical tapers with tip wedges and power lams to get a working limb that is stable and quick and durable. Again it takes some time.And as already said if you are gonna hunt with it the critter aint gonna care.

[Dmaxshawn]

For R/D I use a 002 and a 001 on the back and a para on the belly.  Very smooth.   Like most others in here 3&4 taper seems to be the best combo.