To trap or not?

[D.E.B]

the bow i am working on is 62in. med R/D i feel like the outer 1/3 of the limbs needs to bend more. its 5/8 at the nocks so the million dollar question is do i trap it or reduce the taper to 1/2 at the nocks . also i would like to loose as little wight as possible. thanks DUSTY

[Apex Predator]

If you get them bending more, you will lose a little weight.  Trapping will reduce physical weight of the tips more than draw weight, but won't make them bend a whole lot more.  You will get them bending more by narrowing them, but will lose more draw weight.  It's a trade-off!

[D.E.B]

thank you APEX for your advice i think i will narrow them first. i am thinking a 53# bow bending well has to be better than a56# thats not bending as well?

[DCoy]

D.E.B.
I had a mistake that turned into a blessing and one fast bow, It started when I ordered the Bingham materials for a takedown longbow, and a year later I forgot what I was supposed to build and turned the materials into a 58" takedown recurve. What I ended up with was a 100++++lb bow that killed me to try and draw. After re-working the limb width 2 times and reverse trapping the belly once over a time period of a two years, I finally have got it. A 64lb lightning fast bow. I recommend making the tips narrow first since less weight is lost when removing from the profile rather than thickness. But mostly at the tips. You can actually pick up speed by removing mass from the tips. Now days even on self bows I normally shoot for 5/16" width at the tips  with compensating thickness and then glue or tie on cow horn or deer antler base then file string grooves in them. You can always trapezoid later.
Dcoy

[D.E.B]

i narrowed the tips to 1/2in. it helped a little so i think i will trap as well but i have never done it. i have seen some pics does anyboby out there have some measurements i can start with?

[DCoy]

Dusty,
To trap the back or belly is your next choice. What material/s your bow is made from should be part of that decision making. If you have a laminated bow with too-strong backing wood as compared to the belly wood, then the back should be trapped (Chamfered). On a wood that is tough on tension as well as compression (Like Osage)then I might entertain chamfering the belly. Per T.B.B.4 pg.118 Trapezoidal Sections, Tim Baker writes that wood is normally much stronger in tension (Back) than compression (Belly). As far as measurements I would mark in from edge with a pencil loaded compass 3 lines, one at 1/8, one at 3/16", and one at 1/4". I would then start scraping towards the 1/8" mark while maintaining about a 45 degree angle on all 4 edges.(You can fade in or out with your chamfer where you see fit), then check tiller and weight after flexing 50 times or so. And if needed I would creep on to the next line with the same approach.
Hope this helps.
Dcoy

[DCoy]

How did she turn out Dusty?
Did it lose much poundage?

[D.E.B]

lost 1# narrowing 1# trapping 1# finish sanding so she is 53# and got the outer 1/3 of the limbs bending more.at full draw on the tiller tree limb tips measue the same distance to the ground would this mean it is timed well or is there more to it?