Dont fall off your stall!

[11FIFER1]

I know this is a dumb question but I've got to ask it!
What gives a Fiberglas and wood bow its action and strength? the glass or the wood or a bit of both along with shape and form.
I know some of you will have to pick yourselves off the floor but there you go I had to ask! and supposing I get that far how do you determine the poundage? is it trial and error where by you can trim down to suit later on?
What I really need is a good read on the subject, any advise as to a good book, cd etc. How long would such a build take? oh and how do you go about making one of those air hose presses, what do you use to cap the ends off
thanks again
Jim
UK

[mike g]

I'm no expert, Butt I think part of the poundage is gaged by the number and thickness of the lambinations....
    And then the tillering and final sanding brings it closer to the poundage expected....
    Someone will be along shortly and tell ya I'm full of it....

[macbow]

For the plugs they are nothing more than a round aluminum or whatever plug with a insert like a inner tube or tire has in one of them. Instazlled with a hose clamp. Might be able to see them on Binghams web page.

The fiberglass in a bow for sure adds durability.
I can't speak for it's other qualities.
Ron

[Canadabowyer]

Jim, The glass adds strength and stability in the limb.The wood  effects several important characteristics.Phisical weight is one,a bow of juniper or ceder will be lighter to carry than a bow of osage or hickory.Life of the bow, a bow with osage or other hard,tough wood will last longer than a bow of a lighter softer wood like cedar.Handshock, a bow with heavier wood will have more handshock than a bow of lighter wood, because of the "equal and opposite reaction" equation.Smoothness, a bow with more wood and less glass will be smoother to draw. These are some observations of mine over the years and I am sure there are others that have different ideas,I would like to hear more on this subject. Sometimes bowyers combine woods to get the best out of each wood.As far as draw weight, bowyers measure wood and glass very carfully on each bow and keep records to help them hit a desired weight the next time they build a similar bow design. Binghams projects has a weight chart in the back of thier catalogue which is a good starting point. The Binghams catalogue has a lot of good information and the best book I've read is Jack Harrison's "Traditional Bowyer, More Unnecessary Fun". Bob

[11FIFER1]

Well sorry it's been so long without a reply and many thanks to all who've helped out so far, it would seem that making attractive patterns with wood doesn't do any harm to the bow as it all gets bonded back to strength with the glass, it just doesn't seem the right thing to do as you can feel empathy to any butt joint and would expect it bust open sooner or later.
The other question I have is "tapering the limbs, how does it help the bow?
Once again thanks to all who've helped me so far! Once I've got all the bits in place I'll give it ago!
cheers
Jim

[onemississipp]

"Today's modern bow is made up of laminations of wood and Fiberglas, the
wood serving as a neutral core or spacer between two laminations of Fiberglas.
Actually it is the Fiberglas that does the work of the bow, carrying 88 percent
of the load while the wood core carries only 12 percent. As you increase the
spacing between the two Fiberglas laminations by using a thicker core, you
automatically increase the strength of the bow by the square. Thus, if you
double the thickness of the core, you increase the weight of the bow four times.
Since the thickness of the laminations is measured in thousandths of an jnch,
it is easy to see how just a few thousandths of an inch more thickness in the
core can make a bow too heavy for your use."

This came from some older instructions on building a recurve bow..

They can be found here along with others.
  http://www.vintageprojects.com/archery-plans.html