refresh my memory... what exactly is a perry reflex... i remember reading about it two to three years ago... thanks...
In very brief description the bow is built from lams (typically one belly lam and one back lam) and the belly piece is pulled forward into reflex, then the back is glued on to hold the reflexed shape. This preloads the belly surface into tension, lessening the final strain it sees when pulled to full draw.
I think the term "Perry Reflex" is a misnomer, about 25 years ago someone attached the term to any bow that had a reflexed limb and it stuck. If any of us had an osage bow that had a natural reflex we proclaimed it to have "Perry reflex", everyone used the term whether it had merit or not.
I wouldn't say it is a misnomer, but it certainly was misunderstood and the name misused to describe any reflexed bow, as you say.
Unless you are following Dan Perry's flight bow design to the "T" you just have a reflexed bow, not a Perry Reflexed bow.
You don't have to build the same bow as he did, but you do have to use the same concept of preloading the belly in tension in order for it to have the same effect (and be accurately called Perry reflex). What I am doing is the same as what Dan did, but I am adding to the effect by initially deflexing the first glue up in order to increase the preload the belly sees when it is pulled forward and glued to the back lam. I don't know if Dan ever built a bow like that, but he would certainly understand it as just a modification of his method as described in TBB V3.
I can't claim any credit for the idea of a multi stage glue up schedule to maximize the reduction of belly stresses. I got the idea from reading about the Duo-Flex bow in the Bows of the World chapter where Tim Baker talks about making a modern duo-flex using Perry reflex to increase the performance. Baker's idea (pg. 79) is to splice the belly lams in a more deflexed position than the final bow has, then pull them forward into the final shape when gluing the back lam on.
All I did was think about how to achieve that same effect in a lam bow where the limbs are not billets spliced into a deflex angle to start with. My solution is to use two forms, one for the first glue up that deflexes the belly and core lams in an arc (similar to what a bow looks like when braced), then a second reflex form to pull the belly and core assembly forward and glue the back lam on.
I will post pics of everything when it is done, but that will likely be a few weeks at the rate I am going.
Mark