First Tri Lam Questions

[Japes4]

UPDATE:  Thanks to everyone's help, I was able to make a working bow and learn a ton in the process.  The bow is 64" with a #50 +/- draw at 26".  Lams are a 1/8" Hickory, 1/4" Cherry tapered to 1/8", and a 3/16" Ipe tapered to 1/8" tips. I still have to put a finish on and a leather wrap, but it has shot a few arrows down range.  I learned that next time I will do a thinner mid lam and a thicker belly lam, and I also learned that I am not very good at tillering these style bows, definitely an art form I have not yet mastered.  I guess I will have to build another one to practice on!

 
 
 

[LittleBen]

Nice work, but as they say, full draw or it didn't happen! And a braced pic too.

[Japes4]

Well, as requested here are the pics...I was able to manage a nice hinge on top limb. You can go from too stiff to removing too much in an instant on these bows.

   
 

[LittleBen]

That's definately a hinge, but I think it looks worse than it is because that section of the limb is straight when unbraced.

Ok so if you want the tough constructive criticism, here's where I think you can improve on the next one:
Tiller slowly, because you can't go back and put wood back on.
You can narrow that handle a lot to get closer to center shot, it'll make the bow shoot a lot more forgivingly.
You can also narrow those tips more. They look like they're 1/2"+, I would say with Ipe, you really wanna be under 1/2" wide on the tips.
If you set up your form so the reflex in the limb is nice and smooth and even along the length of the limb, it makes it easier to tell when the tiller is spot on.

Overall though, pretty nice bow. Since its Ipe, and not terribly high draw weight I wouldn't worry about the "hinge" and again, I think it looks a lot worse than it is because of the limb profile being flat in that section vs very reflexed at midlimb, it's probably bending about the same as the rest of the limb. You can see in the full draw, the hinge doesn't look worse than when braced, and if it was really bending too much there, it would look worse the more the bow is drawn.

[Wolftrail]

That hinge does not really look bad from this angle. All in all the stick looks pretty sharp. I like R/D bows just have not built a keeper yet.

[Japes4]

Thanks all. Overall, I'm pretty happy that I have working bow. Obviously room for improvement, but not bad for first try.  Ben, I really appreciate the criticism. It's how I get better. The tips are right at 1/2" and the handle is about 1".  How wide should the handle be for this style bow (it is 1.5" wide at fades)?