Using Ipe....The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!

[canopyboy]

Ok, pictures to come with more detail, but you can find one on the swap thread.  

This "fixed" bow flat out seems to shoot.  It was quiet at release, loud at impact.  I walked back to 35 yards and the drop wasn't much different than my Hoyt recurve.

How can I give it away now?  Mistress indeed.  I think I'm in love.

Of course if ipe is the mistress, bamboo might be my new wife.

[KellyG]

Well I am glad it came together.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

That's great CB, I'm glad you were able to save it. I know how disheartening it is to work so hard and long on a bow to just have one thing ruin it all. I haven't given up on my BBI yet, I put Urac over and down into the crack on the boo side and then I'm going to put an osage lam on the belly side like 4est did. With your success with boo and his success with osage on the belly of Ipe, it sound very encouraging and maybe there's some hope yet for my BBI.
I'll check in here when I get around to finishing the repair job on it.

[Loren Holland]

I know on the other post with CB, discussing Ipe, i came to the defense but on tab 3 of this thread ya'll were mentioning how Ipe seems to have no effect from wood removal, and then bam all of the sudden you took too much off...my first 3 HBI and BBI all ended up too light. In fact I thought I would never get a 50+ lb bow, cause bam, another 40 pounder. But I kept reading on here about patience (and not using power tools, like a belt sander to tiller) and  instead of just 30 pulls to exercise between wood removal, I would exercise it like crazy, then recheck....Anyways, i know its a day late and dollar short, cause ya'll have moved on on the bows since that far back in the thread, but since i am off training for Afghanistan, I don't get to log on all the time.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Loren, I think that had more to do with the R/D hybrid design than the Ipe did, or at least in my case? I've had the same problem with osage on the belly with the same R/D design. Mid limb just won't move for the longest time and then it goes all at once. That's why it's so important to make small adjustments and shooting it a bit in between tillering sessions probably wouldn't be a bad idea? I've read that alot of others will shoot a few shots in between sanding/filing sessions. I guess I'm just scared to after what happened the last time I did that, had a hinge that didn't show up real bad till I shot it and by then it was too late for the boo backing.