Good morning, All.
I'm sorry for my slow response. We were taking a much needed break at our cabin.
First, thank you for your thoughts. This is very helpful.
With regard to the aesthetics of the exposed aluminum beams, it seems that folks really love it or it's not their cup of tea. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say, so I'll have to think about how I can make some adjustments.
With regard to concerns about bonding wood and aluminum, I had those same concerns. To ensure that we didn't have problems, we etched the aluminum to give it "teeth" and used a modern adhesive from the boat making industry that is designed to bond aluminum and wood. It has a breaking strength of 2,600 psi. We also performed several "tear apart" tests, including some under intense heat and the wood always failed before the bond.
Again, thanks for your input. I am dedicated to building great archery products and that takes time and the advice of others like all of you!