What taper rate do you use on your longbows?

[beachbowhunter]

I know lots of you have done some experimentation with different tapers. I have only used 0.002 so far and it seems pretty good. However, I would like to know if there is more of a consensus on the taper. I am making take down LB R/D limbs, if that makes any difference..

[Sam Harper]

It think the ideal taper varies from bow to bow depending on the limb profile.  For mine, which is a mild reflex/deflex, I use one parallel lamination for my core, and two tapered laminations at 0.001 in/in each for a total of 0.002 in/in taper on each limb.  I've experimented with less and more taper, and this seems to be about ideal for my bow.

[bornofmud]

Completely dependent on the limb profile.  Mine works perfect with a powerlam, .006 taper, and tip wedges.  To keep my glass to wood ratio good through the whole limb, I calculated out all of my various draw weights with different thicknesses of glass and tip wedges so that it usually starts around 16-19% glass in the very center of the riser, and 24-27% glass at the tips.  They shoot great! (I make one piece longbows with 22" risers and very short active limbs)

But again, comes down to your specific riser length, limb shape, and limb profile, and generally a good amount of experimentation is required to get it just right.

[jsweka]

Yep.  It really depends on the overall bow design.  In the mild r/d I make, I use two 0.002 tapered lams (0.004 total taper).

[Mike Mecredy]

Up to 3 .001/inch tapers. Usually 2 if I can get by with it.

[beachbowhunter]

Does too much taper cause awhip effect or early stacking due to the tips opening too fast?

[kennym]

Yes, after the string reaches roughly square with the end of limb, you are more or less pulling endways on the limb. So it stacks...

[kennym]

Oh, I like .003 on mine. But, if you build a narrow bow, you can use more thickness taper, cause you have less taper on limb edges.

[Bowjunkie]

I've tried from .002/1" to .006/1" and generally prefer .003 to .004 total taper in my d/r laminated glass/wood and all-wooden bows.

[JamesV]

I like .0035 of taper for my longow design. Draws smooth and shoots hard with no hand shock.

[bigbob2]

Mine are all 4x .001 tapers or 5 if heavy poundage and force /draw graph shows sweet as. No sign of stacking and smooth all the way out to 30-31''. That's with the relatively narrow profile of a HH style design of 1 1/8'' at fades and 1/2'' at nock grooves.

[chackworth3]

I use .003 on mine for over 28" draw and the same with a p-lam for under and depending on the length of the limb. I might throw in an occasional tip wedge for longer draws but those seem to be few and far between. Been messing with a .004 taper here lately tho but one of the bows sold and the other was put in the oven tonight so I'll let you know how it acts...

[beachbowhunter]

Originally posted by kennym:
Oh, I like .003 on mine. But, if you build a narrow bow, you can use more thickness taper, cause you have less taper on limb edges.

Hmmm..that makes sense based on the geometry.

Do any of you guys reverse one of the tapers or are they all stacked the same way?

[bamboo]

IMO  nothing is chiseled in stone--but I'm noticing that the steeper thickness tapers as well as being narrower-the can be unruly with much set back-[say more than an inch or so]
and tend to shoot best at longer NTN measurements
look to the hill recommendations for bow length/draw length--like Kenny says when u pull the string to 90*-all the bend is out of the limb -it stacks
IMO the less steep tapers are going to be more forgiving of design and easier to start out with

"Do any of you guys reverse one of the tapers or are they all stacked the same way?"

stacked the same way [me anyhow!]
if you reverse two .002 tapers -you have a parallel--if you do the same to a .003 and .002-you have a .001-- not much point to reversing tapered lams-
-but some do use tip wedges which are short reverse tapers used to stiffen the tip section and isolate the limb bend inboard

[Walt Francis]

I have settled on .004-.005 in my 64" mild R/D narrowed from 1.30" at the riser to .40" at the tips.

[LittleBen]

Well I'm making all wood lam bows not glass, but I try to do most of the tillering through proper tapering of the lams. Mainly mild R/D bows, so I guess I'll throw in my .02  

I find that I need approximately .001-.0015" of taper for every .100" of stack thickness. Probably close to .001" for every .100 of stack at 2" width limb, and close to .0015" for every .100" at 1.375" width .... everywhere in between I just split the difference.

As Bob had eluded to, the thicker the stack (i.e. the higher the draw weight) the more taper you need. Really you have to think of taper as a percent of total stack.

Anyway, the main difference obviously between my bows and the glass bows you guys are making is that I adjust taper to make the bending stress as even as possible along the ENTIRE limb. I CAN NOT overstress the wood.
Glass is so much more resilient that for a glass bow it's more about the braced and full draw shapes and string angle and such. You don't have to really worry about the glass failign unless you're trying to do something really crazy.

Since I'm used to wood bows, I like seeing the glass bows that have a little more taper to them and really bend smoothly along the entire length of the limb ... It just gives them a really classic and beautiful look to me.