design opinions needed

[Bodork]

I am helping my friend Barry build a bow. He wanted a cross in the riser like the one on the left. I am afraid the horizonal part of the cross would be a weak spot in the riser. I drew a few other options that I think would be better but still wonder if the structural integrity of the riser would be compromised.
 I am asking for opinions about these designs. Would any one in particular be better? Will any of them even work? What do you think? Thanks! Mike

   

[fujimo]

what about maybe just trimming the top of the arrow shelf down say 3/8" then laminating on a 1/2" trim piece same colour as the vertical line- then sanding/filing down to the finished size- still giving you the required radius in the corner.  would only give a cross on one side though- but no real loss in strength

or just do an inlay both sides, after rough shaping, of  say 1/8" deep- shouldnt compromise strength

or do like kenny did on his last bow, and just have thin pads either side of the handle, and they could be made up with a glued in shape- much like a mosaic piece.

personally i like the shapes in riser no. 3- looks better balanced!!

[beachbowhunter]

You could get the horizontal part done by using an I-beam type construction for the riser with a dark layer reveal when you cut the site window. Then cut the block for the vertical stripe.

[Bodork]

I thought about that but then it would just be on one side.

[fujimo]

i think with a strong core wood, maybe an i beam in there too, but with two thinner pads on the sides, (like kennys last build)that would have all the correct lay ups to create the cross, cut from the same piece of wood- so they would be book matched! kinda like those spliced lams are done.

[kennym]

The long accent would be all a good deal, but the short one glued to end grain on the riser would worry me a little. If I were doing it, I would do like Wayne said and slice a pc off each side of riser and lam the accents in it.

Or lam the long accent in, then slice the thin pcs off and add the horizontal pc...

[red hill]

How about thin inlays for the cross pieces?

[heartlandbowyer]

If it were me I'd do an ibeam. Saw your riser block into 3 beams saw your horizontal cross into the center beam and glue back up. Laminate the three beams back into a riser block then cut your vertical cross section in and glue up. Uses smooth on for all glue ups and have good mating surfaces and you shouldn't have any problems.

If you cut the riser block into two unequal parts and cut the horizontal cross section into the larger piece you would be able to see the cross from both sides of the bow.

Cory

[heartlandbowyer]

http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=009836;p=1
Oh yeah helped Dave do this ibeam slice because I had 2 shorts of Padauk and its still shooting strong after at least 5000 shots.