First R/D bow

[Beazley hunter]

Hi all. I'm new to Trad Gang. I've built a few hickory longbows and decided to try a reflex deflex. I made one attempt at it already only to have it fail VERY early in the tillering process. This bow has a cherry riser with poplar accent. The back and core are 1/4" hickory laminates, with a 1/16" strip of cherry between them for accent, and the belly is 1/8" hickory as well. For the riser I used Titebond 3, everything else is unibond 800. The bow will be 1.5" wide at the riser and 1/2" at the tips, and 70" nock to nock. As for target weight, I don't really have a target on this one. I just want a finished, shooting bow with a heavy draw weight. I don't know much about bow building, especially laminates, and that's why I'm here. Forgive me if I don't use the right verbiage, I'm learning. Any criticism and advice is very appreciated. I have thick skin so let's hear it. Thanks all.

[Beazley hunter]

I'm still trying to figure out how to add pictures. As soon as I do I'll post some.

[Greg Owen]

If you email me the pics I can post them for you or will be glad to help.

[Beazley hunter]

[Beazley hunter]

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[Mo_coon-catcher]

The lam combinations sound good to me. I actually like cherry as a core lam. It's light weight and wants to return to its normal profile immediately. But I feel your going to have issues tillering out that profile. Having a sharp reflex like that instead of a gently curve makes things much more difficult. Your full draw with that set up will look like its sharply bendin at the fades, an almost backwards looking hinge at the reflex, then a normal smooth looking bend in the outer half. It's going to be a challenge, but it's already glued up, so might as well give it a shot. This one will play tricks on your eyes, you'll be wanting to get the reflex bend straightened out early, but if you do that the. You will have just made a massive hinge at that point and it will likely fail there. At full draw you will want to be able to see that reflexed point.

For next time, I would modify your form a bit. Where you reflex is, is a good place to start reflexing. But I would smooyh out the curve so that the deepest part of the curve is another 3" or so further out, with a gentle swoop up to about 3-4" from the tips, then leave the last little bit straight. With a smooth curve, the Ned will straighten out evenly at full draw and make a smooth line that's pleasing to the eye. So will be easier to tiller.

I'm sure others will have there own opinion. But this is my take on it. I'm excited to see what you can make it do. I'm not saying this profile won't work, it'll just be more difficult.

Kyle

[Beazley hunter]

Hey man thanks for the reply. I wondered if the profile was wrong when I unclamped it. I will definitely make changes to the next one. What you're saying makes sense.

[Beazley hunter]

It turns out it's more than just the profile that's wrong with this attempt. This thing is just under 3/4" thick from the fades to the tips, with the belly lam being only 1/8" thick. During tillering, I could take the belly down into the core the further I get from the fades and possibly show a glue line, or, I could take a little off the 1/4" backing. I'm thinking of taking some off the back. Suggestions? Either way, if you want to learn how NOT to build a bow, follow along. I'm up for a challenge so I'm going to continue until this thing either blows up or turns out. Wish me luck. I'll update soon.

[Beazley hunter]

It turns out it's more than just the profile that's wrong with this attempt. This thing is just under 3/4" thick from the fades to the tips, with the belly lam being only 1/8" thick. During tillering, I could take the belly down into the core the further I get from the fades and possibly show a glue line, or, I could take a little off the 1/4" backing. I'm thinking of taking some off the back. Suggestions? Either way, if you want to learn how NOT to build a bow, follow along. I'm up for a challenge so I'm going to continue until this thing either blows up or turns out. Wish me luck. I'll update soon.

[mwosborn]

It looks to me like you are going to end up removing all of that 1/8" strip of hickory as you tiller.  Should be fine - you will just have a hickory backed hickory with a cherry accent.  Or you could look at it as a trilam with a really narrow strip of cherry as a core.    

Mo bought up a lot of good points... IMO...  I believe you have a bit too much deflex...  While sitting on the table your riser should be touching or almost touching the table... More so the limbs should be just touching or off the table...

[takefive]

Looks nice, but I'd move the reflex closer to the tips on the next one.  Makes for a more efficient bow IMHO and a lot easier to tiller.

[Beazley hunter]

Got the limbs tapered and did some rough sanding. Also scraped quite a bit of material off the belly. Mid limb (about where the reflex starts) the belly lam is now about 1/16" thick and completely gone out at the tips. I put a long string on it tonight and exercised it a little on the floor to check balance and get a feel for weight. The limbs seem to be moving about the same, although it's hard to tell because I didn't push it too hard. But holy smokes, the draw weight is up there. I have a lot of work to do.        

[Beazley hunter]

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