Opinions needed on my nock tip overlays

[Pointman]

G'day

I've been lurking here for a few years now but this time I need an opinion.

I'm mostly through the process of making my first lam bow. Final shaping is done and I'm just doing the final polishing prior to sealing. The whole process is documented so that I can post a build-along for the encouragement of other first timers later. If you're particularly interested, you can see the album starting  here .

However I'm not particularly happy with the tips.

The tip overlays were built (from the back out) of 2 layers of fibreglass and 1 layer of phenolic.
The phenolic has a nice burgundy red colour that I was after but now that it's shaped the sanded areas are a dusty beige. Finer sanding has not changed this. While I have a bit more sanding to go, I'm not sure if this is going to change at all.
There is also a few glue spots on the face of the tip overlays from when I glued the phenolic to the glass. I'm not sure how to take these off. If I sand them off I may damage the surface. It's possible that once it's sealed that it will no longer be visible.

Upper tip
 

Lower tip
 

What's your thoughts?
Does it look OK? Should I leave it as it is?
Or should I take the leap and just grind them off and replace them with a sliver cut from leftover riser wood?

[Bob Barnes]

what does it look like if you wet it?  It might get the color back when it gets a clear coat...

bob

[Pointman]

It's not too bad really.

Sort of a light honey colour.
The spots of glue on the top still show up though.

 

[Holm-Made]

Sand off the glue and the shiny part of the phenolic so the finish can penetrate.  The finish will bring out the true color of the phenolic.  It never looks good until you put a couple coats of finish on.  Chad

[Pointman]

By "the shiny part" do you mean the glossy coating on top of the reddish layer? or the entire reddish layer?

I assume the former but best to ask I suspect.

[Jason Scott]

The glossy coating on top of the red layer is what he means I think. BTW, the main reason phenolic is used on tips is for reinforcement for fast flight strings. There aren't many other reasons. The way you have the string groves filed you have gone through the phenolic to the glass layers where the string will apply all of its forces from the shot. So the phenolic is just along for the ride and only adds weight to the tips. You can probably still use FF strings if you have enough glass under them but the phenolic is not helping any more and is only for looks at this point.

[BWD]

A little shoe shine motion with some 320ish or so grit sand paper, to round things off a bit and remove all gloss on the surface would probably help.

[Pointman]

Originally posted by Jason Scott:
BTW, the main reason phenolic is used on tips is for reinforcement for fast flight strings.

Ya. I'd assumed as much. My thoughts were that the tip overlay was to allow a string groove to be cut without violating the integrity of the original backing material. Phenolic used for it's hardness.
 

There aren't many other reasons.

Aesthetics I always assumed.    It looks pretty.
 

The way you have the string groves filed you have gone through the phenolic to the glass layers where the string will apply all of its forces from the shot.

Ya. I realised when I cut my string grooves that it was far deeper than needed. However I have 2 additional layers of glass between the phenolic and the original glass back - and I've only just touched them. So the integrity of the backing glass should remain.

 

A little shoe shine motion with some 320ish or so grit sand paper, to round things off a bit and remove all gloss on the surface

That's my job for this weekend then. A final polish to remove any and all unsightly marks and spots - then seal it. Running low on paper though. I might nip down to the local hardware mart and see what I can get.

Thanks everyone for your advice.