Limb Edges

[Interseptor]

Once you have glued up a limb, taken it out of the mold, and then cut it to limb shape, what do you do to the edges to keep the wood and lam glass from splintering?  Do you sand it?

[fujimo]

yup, to round the edges- BUT only in strokes going down the taper towards the tip initially, as with the very raw edges, you stand a chance of lifting a sliver of glass, and tearing into your new bow- once it has some rounding, then there is not as high of a risk!!

[jsweka]

I will use a rasp to knock the sharp edge first, but I am very careful to only stroke from glass toward wood and NEVER let the rasp touch the bow on the back stroke.  That will definitely lift a splinter of glass.  And like fujimo said, work from the center of the bow towards the tips.  Once you get that sharp edge off, it doesn't seem to matter what way you sand with sandpaper to get it all smooth.

[Bowjunkie]

Yep I have done that... with a double cut file. I dont use rasps on glass. More often though I use the drum sander mounted in my drill press... it's just quicker. I can literally knock all corners off the limb edges in less than 30 seconds.

[talkingcabbage]

But if you haven't done it before, stuck with the hand tools. A good piece of 80 grit will work fine too, just follow the same rules.

If you're not used to it, power tools will just ruin a bow faster.