Adding a shelf to a hickory selfbow

[benmmc]

I would really like to have a shelf on my hickory flatbow. It currently has a wedge in the leather, and is 1" wide at the grip.

My questions are: Can I cut an arrow shelf out of this bow without affecting the strength? How far from center would I need to stay to be safe?

I asked this question in another forum a while ago, and people said it wouldn't work, but I've been reading more about it lately, and it seems like when building a bow, a shelf is cut in near the end of the process anyway. Thoughts?

 

[Stiks-n-Strings]

I wouldn't with your handle being only 1", You can can cut a shelf into a self bow and even though it is done towards the end of the build has to planned for ahead of time in order to leave plenty of wood to do so. Your not going to get very close to center though.

 Wood bows are not like glass bows and shouldn't be cut to center  cause you don't have the strength of the lamination's or the glass. You could build an all wood lam bow (something like a tri-lam backed with boo or hickory) and cut a shelf close to center I would think and be fine as long as you left plenty of material and planned it into the build.  

 In the end you could try it if you want and see what happens but there is a possibility you will be needing a new bow.

 Stiks

[KellyG]

I would say no. That when you cut in the self it is at the end but the handles are lift wide. Look at a floppy style rest.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Add another piece of leather to make your leather shelf wider for more support. As said above you dont have the "meat" to do any cutting on that riser.

[benmmc]

Cool, thanks for the answers. I'll leave it as-is. When I build my first, I'll be sure to plan for the shelf.

[k-hat]

Fyi, I built two hickory bows in the 60" range and planned those cut-in shelves in the layout.  I think one was 35#, the other 50#, and on both i cut the shelf to 1/8" from center.  Both are holding up wonderfully and no problems. Hickory can take a lot!

[benmmc]

Nice! Good to know.

[red hill]

I cut shelves into my earliest bows and it worked okay. After a few bows I tried the floppy rest,leather rests and antler rests. Glued on rests work very well. As said, plan ahead it'll work out.

[Roy from Pa]

Shelves cut into wood bows just don't look cool. Kind of distracts from the traditional aspect of the bow. And puts the bow at risk of breaking. Yes you can plan ahead and leave the handle area wider. Center shot isn't required for good arrow flight out of wood bows, all it takes is a slightly weaker spine arrow and the archers paradox does the rest. It's your bow and the possibilities are endless. Just have fun and enjoy the journey..

Here is how I do it.

   

   

[fujimo]

wow! purdy bow roy!

[ALW]

I cut shelves in all my bows.  But I also do it early on in the process.  What weight is your bow?  A bow building buddy of mine who has built hundreds of bows said if you can keep at least 3/4" of wood at the shelf location, with a reasonable weight bow, you'll be good.  I usually cut mine in to with 1/4" of center and make sure I have 3/4" minimum of wood left.  I haven't made a lot of bows but I haven't had one break yet.  You could probably cut in a little ways and build up the outside with a little leather/superglue and shape a nice shelf.

Aaron

[benmmc]

Roy, nice now! Yes, I like how far you built out that shelf from the grip. Did you use leather or a wooden wedge?

Aaron, this bow is 60@27 and I draw to just under 28 with it, so it's pretty heavy, IMO.

Ben

[Roy from Pa]

I used leather. 60 pounds would scare me cutting in a shelf.

[okie64]

I cut shelves in on most of my selfbows pretty close to centershot. They usually end up with around 3/8" to 3/4" of wood left where the shelf is cut at. The main thing is where it becomes narrower it needs to get thicker to make up for it.