A Thanks, improvements and some arrow speeds and more ILF ???’s.

[JohnnyBa]

First off, I just gotta say thanks to all who have answered mine and many others questions. Just reading the boards have improved my shooting with the many tips and advice. So thank you all!
Second, my improvements. Using much of the knowledge garnered here, I can see much more consistency in my shooting. One thing I always wanted to know was my bows speed and I finally got a gizmo that tells me. I saw it on YT, the little radar type thing and it was side by side compared to a couple other chronys and results were very close. I have 7 TD(ILF and bolt on)recurves(the cheap ones) between 56” and 66”, all have 45# limbs and I just have one of those hand held scales but I know it’s really not my true draw weight as I can’t anchor at the exact spot but I usually get a 3 draw avg around 41/42. All shots were with 400 grain arrows. All bows shot a 3 arrow avg of 163. I have one hybrid with 35# and it shot the same arrow at 143 and my scale draw avg on it is the rated 35. I am pretty sure my draw length is 27.5(I only know from my Unmentionable bow) but I probably don’t draw that length consistently with trad bows, but am working on it.
As far as ILF, still playing with med limbs on 15, 17, & 19” risers. I want longer and have a set of longs to try and get a smooth drawing 45#’s at 60+’’s, no more than 62, so I am leaning toward the new limbs on the 17” riser as that’s my sweet spot bow right now.
Sorry for the long ramble, I don’t get out much!

[PrimitivePete]

IF you really want to have fun with ILF, build a Warf. In my opinion the old Hoyt Rambo/RAM hunter compound risers make excellent Warf riser and with the longer riser you get fantastic stability and from my experimentation, increased performance.

[JohnnyBa]

Hey, pretty stupid here, but is WARF an acronym of some kind or just a word for mix matched bow components? Are all risers modifiable to ILF? I am pretty much just playing with ILF risers and different limbs. Can’t see going out and buying an older bow to create something else, WARF? That may come later, now just having a blast with this stuff!

[JohnnyBa]

Ok, did my part and discovered the “WARF” history, the hows and the whys. As a new archer this is a bit overwhelming. As an archer who has a multitude of old compound risers capable of this conversion or either has access to really cheap ones, it would definately be the way to go. But that just doesn’t come close to ILF riser availability and lengths out there that needs no mods and are cheaper than most of these donor compounds off EBay. It’s a great and wonderful concept, but when you are basically a loner, no club or even other archers to confer with face to face, it’s not a viable option. Making Frankenstein bows is cheaper and easier to come up with very shootable bows, for me anyway. Still loving this stuff!

Hey, pretty stupid here, but is WARF an acronym of some kind or just a word for mix matched bow components? Are all risers modifiable to ILF? I am pretty much just playing with ILF risers and different limbs. Can’t see going out and buying an older bow to create something else, WARF? That may come later, now just having a blast with this stuff!

[Terry Green]

I've never dabbled in those, so did you find out what warf stands for?

[McDave]

I've never dabbled in those, so did you find out what warf stands for?

I was curious about this myself, so I found this on the internet:

“Around 2006, Bob Gordon figured out how to resurrect old compound risers by removing all the hardware and fixing a grooved 1/8″ plate on the limb pockets. That way, they would accept ILF recurve limbs. It was creating enough mass and adjustability for a good hunting bow. Bobs’ dog’s name was Warf – that’s how he came up with the name. Warf Bow.”

I guess if I ever invent anything, I’ll have to call it “Lupe” and leave people scratching their heads.

[McDave]

Seriously though, trad bowyers spend a lot of time designing their risers to work optimally with trad limbs, including limb angle, location of arrow rest with respect to the grip, etc.  It's hard for me to imagine that a riser designed for compound limbs would be optimal for a trad bow.  Not saying people shouldn't try, though.

[PrimitivePete]

It took me a long time to embrace this thought McDave but it ends up being easier to put together a WARF than build a selfbow. And as crazy as it sounds it works amazingly. Now I will say that most WARFs will never win a bow beauty contest but they work amazingly well and I find them to be very consistent regarding to accuracy and performance. They will never ever replace the amazing work bowyers do in producing amazing bows. But for someone on a budget who wants a bow that will shoot exceeding well and not slough in performance without costing much, WARF rules. I'll post pictures tonight to give you a perspective on them.

[JohnnyBa]

Thanks for all the information on this. I do get Warfing is way different than Frankensteining, but it seems both work for getting shootable bows for those of us waiting for our dream bow.

[PrimitivePete]

Honestly the only real difference regarding a WARF and a Frankenbow in my opinion is the WARF in most cases uses ILF Plates and of course ILF limbs. Having built both I don't find one exceedingly better than the other, I'll only give the edge to the WARF due to the scale of ILF limbs available.

[JohnnyBa]

At this point in my progress and ability, I just do not see the advantage of buying an old “shootable” bow that qualifies as an ILF donor then do the work it takes to convert, just seems cheaper and WAY easier to purchase a cheap ILF riser to start with. Some of these risers are very nice and include the features that make ILF desirable, the alignment adjustability. Now if I had an old Black bear or similar, I’d do it all day long, but for me, premade riisers for $100 is a no brainer to Warfing, just mho.
Will be posting some photos of Frankenstein bows I have ended up with and how much $ went into them. Thanks again for all the help and info!!

Honestly the only real difference regarding a WARF and a Frankenbow in my opinion is the WARF in most cases uses ILF Plates and of course ILF limbs. Having built both I don't find one exceedingly better than the other, I'll only give the edge to the WARF due to the scale of ILF limbs available.

[Terry Green]

IF you really want to have fun with ILF, build a Warf. In my opinion the old Hoyt Rambo/RAM hunter compound risers make excellent Warf riser and with the longer riser you get fantastic stability and from my experimentation, increased performance.

Never even thought about entertaining the idea of a warf over the years.  I think I know where a Hoyt Rambow is.....

[tippit]

The WARF name after his Dog's name...that's funny as my Tippit knives and my Trad name is after my dog's name...tippit

[Kirkll]

You can find quite a few old compound bow risers that the limb pad angle is pretty close to the std ILF angle.

I built one for my Nephew years ago just for fun.... Can't find the photo at the moment, but he liked it...   Kirk