2021 what did you do today?

[Shredd]

   I personally think limb weight is over-rated to some degree...  Of course you don't want grossly over weighted limbs and slim and narrow as a general rule will always be faster...  I also feel that some of those older recurves with wide limbs, especially near the tips, whatever they gained in performance of recurving the limbs they lost some performance by being so wide...

    To prove my point about being over-rated, I was taking most of my limbs down to around 7 /16"...  I was never really comfortable with such a narrow limb...  Just looks a little on the frail side to me but I thought it is the way to go for performance...  One day I made a R/D bow that was shooting 187 fps...  The tips were rough sanded just a hair over 1/2"...  I said to myself, "Boy, wait til I take these limbs down to 7/16", this puppy is gonna scream"....  I did it and the bow went down to 184 fps...  End of story...  There are such subtleties in limb shape that you can't even see unless you map out the limbs and compare the way they bend... I keep kicking myself for not mapping out those limbs...

   Now I make my bows a 1/2" at the tips...  They look much nicer and stronger to me and I am not really losing any performance...


***  This was my experience...  Yours could be different when it comes to design and materials used...  No matter what anyone tells you, you should never take it as written in stone...  Take that info, store it, use it as a guideline or reference but you always have to find your own path... ***

[kennym]

I agree Rich, a little wider may outweigh the  loss of reflex

[mmattockx]

   I personally think limb weight is over-rated to some degree... 

I have not done the experiments you guys have but this is the impression I have gotten from the tests people have published. You need to take a significant amount of weight off to really change the performance. If you were making a flight bow then you would go all the way with it. If it is a hunting bow then it won't make a noticeable difference and the extra durability is probably more important than another 2fps.

One day I made a R/D bow that was shooting 187 fps...  The tips were rough sanded just a hair over 1/2"...  I said to myself, "Boy, wait til I take these limbs down to 7/16", this puppy is gonna scream"....  I did it and the bow went down to 184 fps... 

 

Murphy sure is a jerk some days. I would suspect that your tips weren't quite thick enough and the lost stiffness when you narrowed them let the tips bend a bit and reduce the speed. Did you measure draw weight before and after the narrowing? Did it change any?


Mark

[flyonline]

The best way to reduce tip weight is to leave the tips thick(1/2" or so) and to narrow them down to 3/8" or less. Wood is a lot stronger in thickness than in width. I usually save this until I get to brace so I can see how the string tracks. You can make adjustments just by reducing the width on one side moving the string over.

  I've already done a bit of tip alignment, and could do a little more as I thin but so far string is tracking dead straight through the riser.

   I personally think limb weight is over-rated to some degree...  Of course you don't want grossly over weighted limbs and slim and narrow as a general rule will always be faster...  I also feel that some of those older recurves with wide limbs, especially near the tips, whatever they gained in performance of recurving the limbs they lost some performance by being so wide...

.....

   Now I make my bows a 1/2" at the tips...  They look much nicer and stronger to me and I am not really losing any performance...

For sure! Not going for any records or anything, just trying to keep hand shock down. If it ends up hiking up the hills with me it may end up being used as a trekking pole at some stage....

***  This was my experience...  Yours could be different when it comes to design and materials used...  No matter what anyone tells you, you should never take it as written in stone...  Take that info, store it, use it as a guideline or reference but you always have to find your own path... ***

My own MO for life/learning as well 

Looks good Steve.

Phew, if the master thinks it's ok I must be on the right track 

[Shredd]

quote - Mattox

Murphy sure is a jerk some days. I would suspect that your tips weren't quite thick enough and the lost stiffness when you narrowed them let the tips bend a bit and reduce the speed. Did you measure draw weight before and after the narrowing? Did it change any?


    You suspected right...  But I did not take the width just off the tips, I removed from the whole limb...  Removing a 1/16" off the whole limb can be a very subtle change so subtle that you could put two bows up next to one another and not hardly see any difference in the limbs bending...  But they are bending differently... That's where limb mapping is a useful tool.. When you get your design refined to the point of maximum performance there is a fine line, a balancing point... Tip the scales too far this way and you lose performance tip the scales too far that way and you lose performance...  I believe it's all about having that magic recipe... If the tip area is too stiff or the stiffness extends too long off the tips your dfc may look pretty good and the bow will draw real smooth but you will lose performance because you have the working area confined to a smaller area and the limb travel is a bit farther...

Yes... I always measure and record draw weight along the course of making a bow...  Yes...  The weight did change...   While experimenting I have also made bows that shot 180 when rough sanded and 184 when the bow was finished...  In my earlier days I would have credited that to a thinner limb and cutting off excess weight, which may be partially true but now I think it was more due to change in limb shape...

[Pat B]

If the string is tracking well just take a little off each side.   
 You referred to Roy as a Master?     

[mmattockx]

Removing a 1/16" off the whole limb can be a very subtle change so subtle that you could put two bows up next to one another and not hardly see any difference in the limbs bending...  But they are bending differently...

Taking a fixed amount off the width will definitely change the bend, because you are changing the stiffness distribution along the limb. If you want to take weight off without changing the bend you have to take the same percentage of width off along the length, not a fixed amount.


Mark

[Roy from Pa]

LOL Pat...

[kennym]

If the string is tracking well just take a little off each side.   
 You referred to Roy as a Master?     

I hear he's purty good at fishin too...

[Roy from Pa]

I is:)

[Shredd]

Removing a 1/16" off the whole limb can be a very subtle change so subtle that you could put two bows up next to one another and not hardly see any difference in the limbs bending...  But they are bending differently...

Taking a fixed amount off the width will definitely change the bend, because you are changing the stiffness distribution along the limb. If you want to take weight off without changing the bend you have to take the same percentage of width off along the length, not a fixed amount.


Mark

   Agreed...  And it looks good on paper...

But do you remember what I said??  The limbs were rough sanded I was simply removing stock to get up to the lines I drew on the bow... Following the recipe that I already set into action and drawn out on the bow...  When experimenting with design you usually only want to change only one thing at a time...

[Shredd]

  Mattox-     Good luck with removing a percentage to back peddle and get the exact same bend while narrowing the limb by 1/32" off each side...  There are so many unforeseen things...  The odds are that you will not get the exact same bend and if you did the odds are that you will not get the same speed... Not saying that it could not happen but I believe the odds are not...

[Longcruise]

Staying inside.   Working on some youth arrows.

[Flem]

That looks like a great little homemade crester
I especially like the rheostat

[Longcruise]

Works great.

[Roy from Pa]

I have one I bought but the darn arrows seem to wobble a bit.

There needs to be something over the top that holds them a tad snug.

[kennym]

A sandbag would work Rody...

Small one...

[Flem]

I made one and used 3/8" id. bike bearings instead of V blocks for the shaft to ride on. Took care of any wobble. I also gave it away to a guy who uses it to wrap bamboo fly rods. Cresting was not my thing

[Longcruise]

I have one I bought but the darn arrows seem to wobble a bit.

There needs to be something over the top that holds them a tad snug.

I use my finger.

[Roy from Pa]