Weird name huh
but that is what it is, however its not my idea (That would be Gino and TJ Deerslayer) but is my take and refinement to the technique.
I choose to use the technique because until this year I built mostly take downs and all my forms use a short firehose and two 36" heat strips. If I built the full form I would need another 72" heat strip, a longer fire hose, more plywood, a couple more brackets and the 72" metal and formica pressure strips so you can see the money adds up quick.
Money alone is not really the motivating factor with me as are the benefits of the single limb one piece form. Accuracy and consistency of the limb form, ease of layup, allows for changes in pad angles without building a new form and as mentioned cheaper to build. The first two are my main focus and really come into play when its time to tiller the bow if you have prepared your stacks correctly.
Rather than cut my form in half and use C-clamps to hold the riser in place I cut just the top of the form off an inch just passed the fades. This lets me use the firehose to hold the riser in place as it would in a conventional form.
When you layup the first limb place painters tape anywhere you dont want glue to go on the riser, you should have plastic on the form so no concern there. I use a micrometer to measure the stack and heat strip together and make a spacer to match it wrapped in tape to lay under the other side of the riser. Its very quick and simple.
I had received some rough cut bamboo that was 31" long rather than 36 so after a quick call to my bro Kirk he told me since I would be putting an overlay on the bow just feather the butts into the riser and place the overlay on it. I was not sure how it would turn out but after doing it it seemed a no brainer. Since I was building a 64" bow the gap was just 2 5/8ths on each side of the centerline.
Once the limb was cured I removed the tape from the bottom of the riser, removed the spacer that was under the none laid up side and laid up the other side. its just that simple with less hassle.
No need to bore you with the rest as it follows conventional wisdom but here are the results.
64" single carbon hybrid longbow
Charcoal Dymonnd Wood riser with 5/16ths coretuff accents
G10 overlay
Moso bamboo limb cores