Author Topic: Who can school me on bow design?  (Read 605 times)

Offline Scott E

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Who can school me on bow design?
« on: September 12, 2013, 10:58:00 PM »
I'm interested in learning about bow design, specifically in laminated bows. I've read the bow design chapter in the TBB Vol 1 a couple times and have got a lot of good info.

I want to learn what design functions attribute to different characteristics. For example how do you make a 62" bow not stack at 30" draw length. Or how do you make a bow that is fast yet quiet and without hand shock.

Any resource suggestions would be great too.
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Offline Big-un08

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Re: Who can school me on bow design?
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2013, 01:07:00 AM »
Scott, Jack Harrison's book "Traditional Bowyer More Unecessary Fun" may answer quite a few of your questions as far as glass laminated bows are concerned.
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Offline takefive

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Re: Who can school me on bow design?
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2013, 01:12:00 AM »
If you have some time on your hands, the search feature on this forum is a great place to look for answers.  I use it a lot and have found some real gems of info and advice.  I just typed in "laminated wood bow" for the heck of it and turned up 231 posts going back to 2008.  Granted, you'll have to weed thru 'em to find the ones that relate to your specific questions, but if you have the time to do that, it's worth checking out.
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Offline Bowjunkie

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Re: Who can school me on bow design?
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2013, 04:30:00 AM »
Yep, check out Jack Harrison's book.

Offline John Scifres

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Re: Who can school me on bow design?
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2013, 07:59:00 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by Scott E:
For example how do you make a 62" bow not stack at 30" draw length. Or how do you make a bow that is fast yet quiet and without hand shock.
Stack is related to string angle so you need the tips to be stiffer for greater length, or reflexed, or recurved, all of which keep the angle below 90 degrees.  As string angle approaches 90 degrees, you lose leverage and much of the work you are putting into the draw is wasted pulling harder for less return.  Your draw weight per inch of draw ramps up really quick too which results in that wall known as stack.

Shock and noise results from energy left in a bow and vibrating it upon shooting.  It is related to limb timing, tillering, tip mass, and whether your handle bends, among other things, primarily bow tuning.

Speed is related to a whole lot of things, draw weight, draw length, limb mass, overall design, arrow weight, release, bow tuning........
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Offline Dan Bonner

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Re: Who can school me on bow design?
« Reply #5 on: September 15, 2013, 08:50:00 PM »
There is a lot of info out there if you know where to look. I'll send a PM. Anyway stack is heavily related to string angle at full draw as John says. Tip wedges are your friend here in a LB. Hooks in a RC do the same thing. Speed, noise and shock are all related mostly to efficiency. You can maximize all three with a stiff tipped, light but rigid limb design with a rather compressed working portion of the limb. A couple of design characteristics that help: confine most of the bending to the outside of the middle third away from fades but well inside tips, deep stack, narrow limbs are generally faster, quieter and less shocky than shallow wide limbs in the same design. This is because glass or carbon is heavier than wood in general and narrow limbs have less glass and are usually lighter in mass for their draw weight. Reduce mass as much as possible in the part of the limb that is moving. You want it to take off and stop quickly. Shock and noise occur when the limb moves too much after the arrow is gone. You want a lot of preload on your limbs. A higher portion of the total draw weight in the early part of the draw cycle is always good. This is the antithesis of stack. Think of it this way, early weight is the tail end of the power stroke. You want the bow to push the arrow hard all the way to brace. Stack only pushes the arrow at the beginning of the power stroke. Now you are wondering what a limb with these characteristics looks like? The fastest quietest  most shock free rigs I have built, or seen for that matter were 64" RDLBs with skinny, skinny but deep limbs and about 13 inches of working limb from the fades to the tip wedges. A static tipped 60" RC with narrow limbs, and about 10 inches of working limb is a close second, but this design will test your patience. I built 7 forms in one summer before I had one I liked.

Bonner

Offline Swissbow

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Re: Who can school me on bow design?
« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2013, 04:00:00 PM »
There is a huge amount of know how here on Trad Gang and the guys are willing to share. Invest some time in searching what you're looking for and if you can't find address a question to the community. Build as many bows as you can and try to understand how all those little bits and pieces work together. Don't get discouraged by failure, because it's part of the process of becoming a better bowyer. It's also through the failures where you learn most, if you're willing to spend some time finding out what went wrong. And most important of all, have fun and enjoy the ride...
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