To shelf, or not to shelf? DANG!!! HELP!! Saved it!!!

[Schmidtster]

So do you guys think that I can cut a little shelf into this one, and if so how deep would you go? the bow width is 1 3/16, its 2 3/16 from back to highest part where shelf will be cut, and 1 5/8 deep at the throat of the handle.
   
   
   

[macbow]

It looks like plenty of depth. So I'd say yes maybe as much as 3/8 inch deep.
With that style of handle shooting off the hand is not as,good as a,small diameter handle.
If the 3/8 isn't enough for your arrow,adding a little leather on the outside would add some surface
If you haven't tillered it out yet I'd wait on the,shelf till last.

[Schmidtster]

cool thanks! yeah I was kinda split between making a leather grip and floppy rest or cutting a shelf, as I started shaping the handle it just kinda ended up like this and I like it. wasn't sure how I would put a rest on the side without cutting a shelf.

[LittleBen]

You didn't mention the draw weight which would play a factor, but it my opinion for a bow of 50# or less ... you could cut the shelf to center if you wanted.

I cut literally all my bows to center and I have never had a single failure as a result. Most of them are around 45#.

[Schmidtster]

This one is sitting at 60# so don't think I want to cut quite to center do you think it will still be ok?

[LittleBen]

I think it would be fine honestly. You'd still have nearly 3/4" of width in the sight window and 2+ inches of depth. But you can always cut more later, and you can't put the wood back so cut a little and see how it is first before deciding to cut to center.

[Schmidtster]

So I went ahead and cut a shelf, this bow shoots amazing!! so quiet so fast and right where you want it too..... until I heard a click and the handle started to separate from the bow. I was wondering how I could fix this. Do I have to cut the whole handle off of the bow. I'm guessing my fades were too steep and not blended properly. I know my glue line wasn't perfect. should I try to cut the handle off maybe glue on a small handle blend it and tiller to a bend through the handle design or can I somehow save it as is?!
 
 

[LittleBen]

The problem is that the ipe is not thicker in the handle than it is in the limb, and it wants to bend in the handle area. You will not be successful gluing a handle on like that. Here are your options:

 http://poorfolkbows.com/ipe1.htm

Sam Harper explains it well so I won't paraphrase him.

Unfortunately, since the shelf is already cut, making a bend through the handle is also probably out of the question.

Did you use titebond glue? If so you can heat the bow with a heat gun and separate the bamboo from teh ipe. Then you can add a powerlam and glue it back together. If you do this I woudl suggest being very careful with the bamboo and only heating from the belly side so as not to make the bamboo brittle.

[Eric Krewson]

Before I read the text you wrote I said to myself,"that handle is going to pop off", way too bulky for the thin limb bow you made.

[fujimo]

check out this thread, scroll down and look at Erics' remedy.
 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=010659
thats what i would be doing.
nice fix, and can still be pretty- makes for a nice handle!
g'luck

[Schmidtster]

I like the idea of that one fujimo, think I will give it a shot. I see that Eric tapered his fades out 2.5". Would it be at all benificial to make them longer? I was originally thinking like 6" but that might be excessive Mabye 4 might be ok though?

[fujimo]

i geuss the longer you taper the fades out- the less working limb you will have - to a point, i might just mimic Erics method first time, and learn from it.
enjoy saving her!!

[AkDan]

Curious why you couldnt cut the handle off, sand it, glue on a longer 'stiffner' piece(s) and than glue the handle back on and retiller.  The bbo blanks or builds I've seen minus Deans had a stiffner piece between the core and boo or handle and core to keep the handle from popping.   Westvangs blanks and Jd Jones builds come to mind with the stiffners.

[Schmidtster]

I just looked at a few JD Jones bows and found that I think I'm accomplishing the same thing just a little different sort of way, I think that by laminated a few pieces together gives me a little more strength but still allows the transition through to the handle. I might still use what handle I have left but not sure if I can make it work because of the shape of the existing handle. I'll pick away at it slowly as I can and let you know what I come up with

[Schmidtster]

So I got the old handle off. I went ahead and did as eric krewson suggested. I glued on a series of thin peices. Shaped and feathered it into the limb. I have put just over 100 arrows through it. How many do you usually shoot before you finish a bow? The bow came to 60 lbs at 62 ntn. Shoots awesome so far. I will get pics up later.

[takefive]

Glad to hear your handle fix worked.  I think I shoot 150-200 arrows before I put the finish on.  Shoot 30 or so after it's finally tillered while rechecking the tiller.  Let it rest for a few hours then shoot it some more and more the next day.  If the tiller hasn't changed, I finish it.  That's just me though; getting old and cautious    

[Pat B]

What glue did you use? If you used TB glue you could heat up the bow and remove the backing and add a power lam between the back and belly at the handle.

[Schmidtster]

I used system 3 epoxy. It's pretty strong stuff when I removed the old handle I could see I didn't have a very good glue line so when I glued the new handle on I glued a single piece 1/8" thick on to conform with the bow better than glued on 4 more at 1/8" now it looks really good. The whole handle length is 13" with 4" fades and 5 inches of handle.  It's taking some set but it's a nice shooter. Will get pics up soon.