taper rate

[kennym]

Curiousity- How much taper in your bows and why?

I've got one glued up and roughed in 64" d/r,18" riser with thin fades pulling right at 50# @ 28",  1.5" wide at fades.

Put .003" per inch taper in her and the first few shots seemed like I got the speed of the one with .002 total taper per inch but less noise.

Any thoughts?

[Apex Predator]

Kenny, as you know, I have been using four .001 tapered lams in my straight and mild R/D longows for a total taper of .004.  Why, because it works.  I have been getting the bend I want with that combo.  I started out with just .002 total taper and felt the limbs were bending the most in to small an area.  With the current .004 total, I am getting all but the last 10" or so of limb bending pretty evenly.  They are smooth drawing and shooting.  I will have to start all over when I develop a more radical R/D form.  It will be challenging to get that combo dialed in.

[eman614]

is it alright to put more that one tapered lam on a bow? can you have all tapers and no parallels?

[bjansen]

For a long bow I have been using 2 tapered lams per limb (at a rate of .002 per in).  That has been working well for me too.  I tried one bow with 3 tapered lams (.002 per in).  That bow came out to 41 lbs @ 28" and it was a little too whip ended.  It shot sweet but lost 5 fps (comparatively).  

For recurves, i only use 1 tapered lam per limb (.002 per in again).

[PV]

I use .002 total taper in my curves and R/D's. I also use tip and riser wedges to adjust the bend. Still experimenting with taper rate and location.

Kenny have you compared the speed with a chrony?

enman416   yes

[Diamondback59]

i perrosnally think any of em will work good  it s all gonna come to the tapper in  ur wedges  thats the part i see  needs the most tweeking  brock

[kennym]

Thanks for the input guys. Always thinkin on that perfect bow. Told my wife this is the one,never need another,she laughed at me,can you believe that!!
PV,haven't checked speed yet but am planning on it.

This one has a sweet halfmoon arc at full draw,and the string clears the limb a lil better than the last experiment.

[8PT]

Hello.  I have been lurking around here for some time but don't post much.  A great bunch of folks here.  I was wondering what kind of speed you guys were getting from your R/D long bows.  We do all our testing at 10 grains per lb. at 28" draw and only getting around the mid 160 FPS at these specs, occasionally a little less.  We have been using .004" total taper per limb.  Our bows draw and shoot very sweet and smooth and no sign of stacking well past normal draw lengths.  They seem to have a slight but steady increase in weight from inch to the next inch starting from brace at about 1.5 lb.to between 2.5- 3 lb. 28"to 29" if that makes any since.  I know speed is not the main concern but trying to learn all I can.  Thanks for any info.

Tommy

[Canadabowyer]

Kenny, I've tried them all. My form is very mild D/R. 3 x .002 was too much, stacked quick and didn't feel good when shooting. 2 x .002 and 1 parallel works ok but still a little harsh shooting.1 x .002, 1 x .001 and 1 parallel is real nice and sort of where I have landed for now. I did build several with 1 x .002 and 2 parallel and they are real nice smooth pulling bows too.So between .002 and .003 total is where I am at now. Bob

[kennym]

Thanks Bob,
 I've got in this one:
 1-.002 taper
 1-.001 taper
 2  parallels
 2  glass

I really like the way it bends and shoots ,what little I've had a chance to shoot it! I've got some pics,tech difficulties.

Tommy,I'll have some chrony info next weekend I hope.

[TNstickn]

I have had better luck with my total tapers in the .002-.003 range for a pretty heavy R/D bow. Tried from 0-.006. I tend to try and keep my ends stiff. I like to use a reverse tape .001, along with 2 .002 taper laid traditional to stiffen my tips and add some stiffness. I pretty much always have actionboo parr. cores in all my attempts. I have not tried to use tip wedges. I will when I can figure out a way to keep'em from sliding around in my airhose set up.  

[8PT]

Thanks Kenny.  I will try to keep an eye out for it.  Just something I have been curious about.

[Pennsyltuckey pete]

I am a rookie bowyer and have been using .003 total taper in my  58" recurve design.  One Lam is at .002 and the other at .001.  It is quiet and smooth up to 29 where it does start to stack.  I sure wish I had access to a chronograph.  The design seems to shoot as fast as any other.

pete

[Allen Ziebarth]

I used to work for a Bowyer, not mentioning any names, but in his top of the line R/D longbows, he would actually taper the fiberglass .001 to the tips. Just on the back fiberglass.
His longbows were very quick, and shot nice.
I don't remember the exact total taper in the limbs though. I'll try to see if I can dig up any info I can.

[kennym]

Greg,I've done a couple with tip wedges,I just made sure the lams and wedges were long enough and taped the thick end of the wedge to the end of the lam,glued and folded over toward center. Worked like a charm(that time).

Allen, that is an interesting idea, it would work on longbows to reduce mass tip weight,but would be chancey on a curve or rad hybrid.

Tho you would gain mass wt. toward the center of the bow by using thick nuff glass to be able to get the taper.

Hmmm,have to think on this........

[TNstickn]

Thanks for the tip Kenny!! Sounds like a great idea. I'm gonna give it a try.

[kennym]

I taped both sides and folded to make sure it didn't rip,worked once anyway!!