Take down recurve limb twist help

[jsweka]

I've built several laminated longbows with no problem.  They turned out nice.  I am currently in the middle of my first attempt at a take down recurve.  Just put a string on it tonight and I have some limb twist.  Reading about how to fix limb twist has always been confusing to me - strong side vs. weak side.  Here is a simple drawing of what I see when looking at the belly side of the strung bow.

 

My question is...Do I deepen the string groove and trim some material off the limb on side A or side B?  And for my future reference, which is the strong side and which is the weak side?  :confused:  

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

John

[VRB]

You can deepen the groove on side A or remove material from side B the strong side,sometimes a little of both.It can be kind of tricky getting it to track down the middle.   Bill

[jsweka]

Bill - Thanks for the advice.  I'll try it tomorrow night and see what happens.

I never had to do anything to any of the longbows I've built.  String always tracked right down the center.  Now that I've attempted a takedown recurve, my respect for you professional bowyers has gone up another level.

Thanks,

John

[Bow-n-Head]

John:  Lay the unstrung bow on its' side on a flat surface.  Both tips should be equal distance from the surface. This tells if you have proper limb alignment. The distance from the middle of the limb bolt should be the same as the distance from the middle of the tip to the surface.  This make sense?? I make limbs for old compound risers & thats how I do it.  Hope this helps. Ray

[Dale in Pa]

VRB is correct, deepen the string nock on side A, and also remove material from side A, but only at the tip. This will move the string into the middle of the limb.

You can also remove material from side B, but not near the tip. Try and sight down the limb and see where the twist starts. That's the area where you want to remove some material.That's the strong side and you want to weaken it.

[jess stuart]

You want to be sure that your nocks are straight across from each other.  If not this will cause a twist in the limb.

[jsweka]

Thanks for the advice guys.  I'm getting ready to head down to my man cave/bow shop/basement and see if I can get this worked out.

John

[jsweka]

Well after taking the string on and off many many times, and sanding here and there, I think I've got it.

The tillering gave me fits, but I moved on to shaping the riser and that's a lot of fun.  Now it's really starting to look like a bow.

Thanks for the help,

John