D style Question?

[Dan Landis]

Working on a D style "Bendy Handle" bow, it is 62" NtN, pulls 55# @ 28" made from hackberry.  Limbs are 1-3/4" wide, narrowing to 1-1/8" in handle area.  The last 10" of the limbs taper to 1/2" tips.  I am experiencing bad hand shock, it feels as though the limbs are hitting the end of the stroke at different times.  Hope this makes sense.  What if anything can be done to reduce or eliminate this??????Dan

[John Scifres]

I would make the tips more like a Holmegard.  narrow and thick for the last 6".

Make sure tiller is spot on visually but the final test i sthe shooting.  If it's shockign the hand, something is wrong.  Especially with really light hackberry and 62".

[Aznboi3644]

get a full draw picture up...either you have too much bend in the handle or too massive tips...or a combination.

[Pat B]

I'm always surprised how little hand shock these bows have. Like Anzboi said it is either too much bend in the handle and/or tips too massive. Do  the limbs recover at the same rate? Having the limbs out of sync with each other could also cause hand shock.

[George Tsoukalas]

If it feels like the limbs are slamming home at different times then they are. Check the handle pressure as you draw too. See if it is even. Now are you tillering on a rope and pulley or on a tillering stick. You can really tell how the limbs synchronize on a rope and pulley. Jawge

[PEARL DRUMS]

I just finished a spittin image of yours, even the wood. Mine is a sweet treat to shoot. The last 6-8" are straight and stiff, the handle starts to flex around 24-25" of draw. Even though I shoot 3 under I landed the limbs dead even with no positive tiller at all. Call me crazy.

[PEARL DRUMS]

One more thing. Dont be scared to flip the tips a pinch. It made a big difference on mine.

[Dan Landis]

First of all, thanks for your help everyone.  Here are a few pics.
 

 

 

 

[PEARL DRUMS]

It looks to me like your handle is doing all the work, hence the shock. Your mid limb area looks a bit flat. Gte them working a little more so it relieves the handle area a bit. Leave the last 6-8" of the tips just as they are.

[Pat B]

What Pearlie said! I usually get my handle movement at the very last so it begins to bend right at full draw.   Is the twist in the right limb natural or induced? Is the thickness of each side of that limb the same all the way out?

[Dan Landis]

Thanks Pearlie & Pat, the twist is mostly natural, there is a lot of dips and thickness variations in both limbs, but the right one is worse by far.  The side to side thickness varies as much as 1/4" in some spots, mostly at the edges.  I hope that makes sense.  This only my second attempt at a D style bow and miss calculated the handle area thickness.  Also, I heat treated the limbs, but because of the clamps used to hold the bow in the center, it did not get any heating.  That probably led to some of the excess bending in the handle area.  

I have narrowed the tips some, and plan to remove a little more from the mid limb area on both limbs, and heat treat and straighten the handle area.  We'll see where that leaves me.  Thanks again guys for all your help.....Dan

[PEARL DRUMS]

Mine was the same way Dan. Lost of dips and varying thickness, but I have zero twist in mine. Unless the humps are real bad I would keep the belly flat as a pancake. When you heat treat it again try clamping it flat while your at it, hackberry moves real easy.