First time bow build knot in fade out

[Susquehannariverarcher]

I originally thought this knot hole would not be in the riser. Turns out I was wrong. Is the riser toast and should I just start over?

[Mad Max]

Are you building a Glass bow??
More information please

[Susquehannariverarcher]

Are you building a Glass bow??
More information please

Yes, sorry. I always forget to include that. It's a handle forward long bow.

[Crooked Stic]

Don't think I would trust it. The fades are high stress areas. I had a small Crack once in the fade and thought it was CA glued well but it failed pretty quick.

[Susquehannariverarcher]

Don't think I would trust it. The fades are high stress areas. I had a small Crack once in the fade and thought it was CA glued well but it failed pretty quick.

Yeah that's what I figured. I'm not super thrilled on it. I'm thinking maybe I can cut 1/4" off each side of the riser. And redo fade outs.

[derekdiruz]

How far do you sand things down from the full width ? That knot being on the end, could work out? For instance, I glue up 1.5" and cut my limbs down to 1.37 most of the time. If I had a knot 0.1" or so on the edge, I'd leave her be lol

[Crooked Stic]

Yeah you could slab each side same wood or digmfferent color add character.

[Susquehannariverarcher]

How far do you sand things down from the full width ? That knot being on the end, could work out? For instance, I glue up 1.5" and cut my limbs down to 1.37 most of the time. If I had a knot 0.1" or so on the edge, I'd leave her be lol

It's my first one. So I'm not totally sure haha

[Kirkll]

Great time to use a power lam. Even a real thin one would work well.

Or…. Just sand that knot area to a paper thin taper and it should be fine. It’s not a show stopper in my opinion.    Kirk

[Susquehannariverarcher]

Great time to use a power lam. Even a real thin one would work well.

What is a power lam? I'm very interested. Thanks Kirk

[Kirkll]

Great time to use a power lam. Even a real thin one would work well.

What is a power lam? I'm very interested. Thanks Kirk

Basically a power lam is a long thin taper that extends past your fades on the riser and helps eliminate any hinge effect at the fades.  Basically ou are pushing the fade tips out further away from the riser.

 On a one piece bow you have 2 options.... you can mill these PW's at about .100 to nothing in 12" and run them up the belly ramps.....But doing this,  it is tough to keep them from shifting in the form and keep the fade tips uniform length from center of riser.

The best way to do it on a one piece that i have found is building a sled 30" in length with a taper on each end going .100 to nothing.  These are put on the back of the riser and centered up to extend your fade tips.

If you have a 20" riser fade tip to fade tip, a 30" PW will push your fades 5" in each direction.... I run 22" lengths on my one piece long bow risers myself.

Trust me on this one bro..... pushing the fades out on a long bow with a fast taper (.004) and the use of a tip wedge to shorten the working portion of the limb, is storing energy in a shorter section of the limb and your performance levels will take a huge jump up, as well as having a better string angle at full draw and shorter limb travel....  I kid you not.... Try it.... you'll like it!   

[garyschuler]

Yeah, Kirk got me using power lams and Fred Anderson got me using Tip wedges. made big improvements in my longbow builds.

[Susquehannariverarcher]

Thats super interesting Kirk. This being my first bow ever. I might save the power lam thing until I have a few more simple bows under my belt.

[Crooked Stic]

Kenny can fix you up with a superlam sled that has built in powerlam and tip wedge.

[Susquehannariverarcher]

Kenny can fix you up with a superlam sled that has built in powerlam and tip wedge.

Good to know. Everything I currently using from Kenny.

[Kirkll]

If you get obsessed with this bow making like some of us have, and start playing with prototyping your own limbs designs. Power lams and tip wedges are a great way to shift the working portion of the limb around using different forward taper combinations for different results.   Years ago i built a lot of TD bows using power lams for my wedge assembly, and that's what sold me on the magic of long lean wedges.  I did find out with more experience that i can mill wedges at 1/4"-5/16"  to nothing in 12" and get pretty much the same results as a double power lam assembly, with less millwork involved.

There are as many rabbit holes as you want to go down building these things.... Gotta love rabbit holes! Its a lot of fun going into mad scientist mode and trying different stuff.    Kirk

[Mad Max]

  I did find out with more experience that i can mill wedges at 1/4"-5/16"  to nothing in 12" and get pretty much the same results as a double power lam assembly, with less millwork involved.

How much is sticking out from the riser into the limbs Kirk??

[Susquehannariverarcher]

Oh yeah definitely have to love the rabbit holes. I should hopefully be gluing it up this evening. If I can get my heat box warm enough in my shop...

[Kirkll]

  I did find out with more experience that i can mill wedges at 1/4"-5/16"  to nothing in 12" and get pretty much the same results as a double power lam assembly, with less millwork involved.

How much is sticking out from the riser into the limbs Kirk??

5.5" to 6.5"  for medium and long limbs on my TD limbs. average limb pad length is 4.75".

The PW's on my one piece long bows typically extend past the riser fades about 4" . Riser is  22" tip to tip of fades, w/ 30" double ended PW tapered from about .100 to nothing in 10".