having my bows wieght reduced ?

[northern fisher]

A few years ago I bought a 65# tomahawk from a friend(Harl)and at the time it was not to much wieght.Lately due to my job I have been having some shoulder problems.I have lighter bows to shoot but I like this bow and it is no good to me at this wieght.A couple days ago I dropped it off to a friend who is sending it to a bowey in Hearst Ont to have the wieght reduced.I have seen Tony's work and he is very good.
 My question to you folks is how many of you have had this done and were you happy with it or did you regret doing it
 Thanks for your input
Gary

[Don Stokes]

I had one of mine done, lowered about 10#. I sent it back to the bowyer who made it. He was a little hesitant, and said 10# was a lot to take off. It worked out fine, and I still have the bow.

[Rob Fin]

I had a longbow reduced from it's original 56# down to 51# by the bowyer (Abe Penner of Cari-bow). It was a good decision and it was like getting a new bow. I really don't think I lost any arrow speed either since I was able to better expand my draw with the reduced weight.

[ron w]

I have had 3 bows reduced,a Great Northern, Northern Mist, and a Northwind,all by the original bowyers. All were reduced by 5# and refinished. All came back like new. I bought all 3 bows from the classifieds here. All 3 bows, the makers had them on file by number and knew what the could do as far as removing material, plus or minus a coulpe of #! I would do it again.

[trapperDave]

showing my ignorance, how do they do it? Thin the glass or narrow the limbs?

[ron w]

I think it depends on the bow. Some can narrowed, some can be narrowed and trapped and the glass can be thinned also. It all depends on what was needed to make weight when it was made.

[vermonster13]

Some trap the limbs, some sand the glass down and if they are trying for a major reduction may do both.

[sswv]

I had my little black Vortex done a few years ago and ended up loving it even more. Kevin built the bow so he's the one that did work. My personal opinion....let the fellow that built it do the work "if at all possible".

best of luck with it  
 

[PowDuck]

What does "trapping" the limb mean?
I've got a 68lb AR Stick but hesitate to have anything done hoping for my dream moose hunt some day.

[Whip]

Trapping is tapering the edge of the limbs so that the back is narrower than the belly, or vice versa.  
How much a bow can be safely reduced depends to some extent on how it was made originally.  If when the bow was first made it came in a bit overweight it might have had some material removed when it was built, thus reducing how much could be taken off later.  If it wasn't a custom order it might have a little more leaway.  Either way, the original bowyer would be my first choice to take weight off.

[leatherneck]

I had a Whisperstik longbow reduced from 60# to 53#. JD trapped(Whip described it well) the limbs and it worked out great. I could not tell the difference when looking at it.

[northern fisher]

I'm not sure if Dale built this bow or if it was more of a 'mass produced model'but I'm glad to here that others have been happy with their bows. Sergio tells me that Tony figures he can remove 8# or so.As nice as the bow shoots ,that should be enough.

[PowDuck]

Thanks, Whip. That makes sense.