Fiberglass wedge

[Mad Max]

I was thinking about a fiberglass overlay or under the glass wedge (lets call it) coming out past the fades 4/6" or what ever.

What do you think about this idea??????????

[kennym]

I put one on the outside of the glass on a test bow and it worked fine. Hunted with it for a couple 3 years and shot it a bunch.  You could see the transition of the glass where I faded it to  nothing so I painted the glass on it .

[Mad Max]

How did it change the bend of the bow?

[Crooked Stic]

If you talking kind of a power lam thing I think it be better between the lamps or at least under the main glass. I would think if on the outside and flexes eventually will pop.

[kennym]

It pushed the bend out just like a regular power lam, I also would put it on inside of stack.  If for no other reason than being able to see the feathered end ...

[Kirkll]

That's not a bad idea at all bro. .. But I'd definitely put it into the core next to the wedge. I've done it on the outside , belly side, years ago when i turned a one piece bow into a TD and it lasted several years, but eventually started lifting a bit. (personal bow)

This would be great way to use up a bunch of those 12" lengths of glass i end up with buying glass in 6' lengths. I'll bet a have 150 pcs in a drawer. I'm thinking i might try laying up a wood lam @ .130 and two pieces of glass with no heat and then mill them into wedges. Once the wedges go into the form, they will be cooked with the rest of the lay up and will increase the temp resistance. Maybe two pieces of maple and a glass core would work out better for building a laminated wedge.

I'll give this a try  soon and report back.... I think it's a great idea.     Kirk

[kennym]

""Maybe two pieces of maple and a glass core would work out better for building a laminated wedge.""


A racing striped wedge would look ultra cool too!

[Mad Max]

I would put glass  to glass.
Once you put wood in between the glass I don't think it would work as good.

[mmattockx]

I would put glass  to glass.
Once you put wood in between the glass I don't think it would work as good.

All the power lam is doing is spacing out the glass on the surface, it isn't contributing much because of its own stiffness, so I don't think it will make much difference if you sandwich it in the wood or not.


Mark

[Mad Max]

I would put glass  to glass.
Once you put wood in between the glass I don't think it would work as good.

All the power lam is doing is spacing out the glass on the surface, ???????????


Mark

[Appalachian Hillbilly]

Can't  remember which bowyer, but I saw a set of limbs with laminated wedges. Had a white stripe in the center of the wedge and it really looked great!

[mmattockx]

All the power lam is doing is spacing out the glass on the surface, ???????????

Essentially, yes. It stiffens the limb by increasing the stack thickness much more than by adding its own bending stiffness. If you added a FG power lam just under the glass lam it would also add stiffness by increasing the thickness of the glass in that area, which would be a significant effect because the FG is so much stiffer than the core wood. If you put it in the center of the stack then it is just adding thickness.


Mark

[Mad Max]

Yes I agree :thumbsup

Yes my whole point was based on making the limbs stiffer out past the fades

[Kirkll]

I’ve build quite a few bows with laminated wedges years ago and they look cool and work just fine. Using fiberglass in the core  allows you to use a bit softer wedge material like curly maple or other material. I prefer using a stiffer wedge material myself because I use long lean wedges.

But….. the bottom line is millwork time and materials. It’s much easier to cut wedges on a table saw out of solid stock and run them through the drum sander than mess with milling a stack of power lams and laying up more pieces.

Kirk