1piece vs take down

[1Longbow]

ok I'm bored and was wondering , all things being equal( weight ,length ,poundage)  Is a 1 piece bow more efficient, over a take down, as far as the efficient use of power in the limbs. Just thinking that a 1piece, being one complete unit ,might use the power of the limbs better. Hope this makes some sense

[blacktailbob]

The only practical/logical comparison would be comparing the same bowyers one piece to their takedown.
Get a chronograph and do some of your own testing. My 1964 Browning 60" Safari II is almost exactly the same speed as my 62" Blacktail Sitka takedown. Browning is about 1 pound heavier than the BT and shoots about 1 fps average faster. Not bad for a 58 year bow. Both bows have high performance strings on them. Again, not exactly comparing oranges to oranges. I live in Florida, no apples here. 

Hope this helps.
Your results may vary.

[Terry Green]

I'm not a bowyer at all, but I will venture this guesstimate....

#1 I think that might be with some td designs.

#2 I think the difference would be so minut that you wouldn't hardly be able to shoot the difference.

I'll be talking to a bowyer soon and see what he says.

[Kirkll]

There are no absolute’s….. but if the limb design is the same, with the fades in the same location, and the unstrung profile matches up at the same angle, both the one piece and TD should perform the same.

Most bowyers that have developed their own unique limb designs start out with the TD version so they can adjust limb pad angles, taper rates and wedge locations, as well as get the brace height established. Once the design has tested as a winner, you can reverse engineer it into a one piece and get the same performance with a lighter mass weight.

With that being said….. the TD bows are much more popular for many reasons. Traveling is a big one, and having an extra set of limbs built is another. I know a lot of guys that have lighter weight limbs for 3D shooting, or just getting back in shape after a long winter.   I build a couple different designs that I can mount recurve limbs and hybrid long bow limbs on the same riser…..

.02 cents worth ……. Kirk

[Terry Green]

Thanks Kirk. 

[BigJim]

You have to take each shooter in to account with this as well..

Say I had a 3 piece bow with x = working length of limb and a 1 piece bow (of the same model) with x +2" =working limb.. If the bows were of the same overall length, the 3 piece with less working limb would be more efficient for someone not drawing said bow as deeply but a different archer with a longer draw length would get more out of the longer working limbs but this is still vague as one would have to compare force draw curves to figure out optimum draw lengths for each... and then, it is likely few if any would notice much difference.

Now with a two piece, there is not difference.
BigJim

[Kirkll]

“ Say I had a 3 piece bow with x = working length of limb and a 1 piece bow (of the same model) with x +2" =working limb.”

No argument there bro… tweaking the working limb length of the same design is an excellent way to accommodate archers with different draw lengths. But if the working limb and bow length was the same….. it should work the same.

Now the comment you made on the two piece bow has my curiosity up….. Why would this bow be different with all else being equal?       Kirk

[BigJim]

Right. no difference between a two piece and a one piece of same model and length.
BigJim

[Terry Green]

Great stuff guys, glad to see Sponsors chiming in!