Weight reduction and limb trapping

[Tom A]

I have been thinking about doing a little weight reduction on a old 21 century longbow.

I am curious if its best to trap this bow with the back wider than the belly or the belly wider than the back?

Or should I just take it down square on the sides?

I would like to get at least 5# off it. Also what are the best tools to use? I have read about people using a file and also sanding. What type of file or what type of sander?

Thanks.

[lpcjon2]

You should post this on the bowyer's bench in the main forums.

[macbow]

Longbows are pretty easy to loose 5# on. The ones I've done I trapped to the belly side and then sanded the edges round.

A good sharp rasp or file like a nickolson #49 works well. You'll be able to see if your straight. just do the same on all edges. sand before testing.
Go slow like I said 5 # is easy to loose.

The second option is to not trap at all. Just sand (belt sander) the edges till they are almost square then sand round again. Pretty straight forward.
Ron

[vanillabear?]