Can this be saved?

[wetfeet15]

This is only the second bow I have attempted to build. Put the string on it today for the first time and this appeared. All other places along the fades look fine. Is there anyway to save this?

[garyschuler]

Don’t think you can save that. Is that a 2 lam bow or 4 lams? Looks like belly lam is too thick and if a 2 lam bow, lams look pretty thick. Did you do a dry run before glue up to look for gaps? Might need to make some shims so your lams fit the form and riser better. From what I can see the lams are too thick to bend and fit the form properly. Just my two cents and we all have been there starting out. Don’t give up, keep going and learning, Best Wishes for success.

[Kirkll]

Sorry to say… Gary is right… String it and hang in on the wall in your shop as a reminder of the need for longer thinner fades on the riser… the lam thickness is also a factor, especially on the belly ramps.

I would strongly recommend looking into using a power lam to help push those fades out a bit more from the riser tip fades too. They can be used on the belly ramps or the back of the riser. The back of the riser is much easier to control during lay up from slipping.

Kirk

[wetfeet15]

Thank you guys for the response. I did a dry run and everything looked good and with no string on it the glue joints at the fades looked great. This was built off of one of Kenny templates and I used his recommendations for the lams. That said Its still very possible I screwed something up during glue up.

[garyschuler]

Well, none of us has ever done that !!!! Well not for 15-20
 minutes anyway !!!   

[kennym]

Hey Ben,

Your fades don't look thinned enough to me , may be wrong.

I do 1/16" at an inch from end of riser and 1/8 or a fuzz over at 2 inches.

Call me this evening if you can.

Thanks,
kenny

[Kirkll]

No worries Ben... I'll bet every bowyer out there has done this just starting out. Sometimes they do hold up for a long time too. This one had a few thousand arrows through it and i hunted for two years with it until it did very close to the same thing yours did...I think i built this one back in 2009 or 2010

here are some fades to look at that both have power lams. and a build album showing the lay up.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YKDN29wyr6SC4S2j7

this one below shows where the power lam stops... this takes a huge load off the riser fades and helps push the working portion of the limb out further. The difference in performance is large doing this, and it opens up your string angle nicely too.

[wetfeet15]

After looking at the above pics and talking to Kenny im confident that I did not get the fadeouts thinned enough. Lesson learned and on to the next one.