ILF Questions

[oxnam]

We travel a lot and my wife has become annoyed with 1 piece bows that I can't ever seem to leave home.  I informed her that they do have some bows that would solve the hassle of long bows in the vehicles...ILF.  I do have some questions about them that I haven't been able to find in my searches.

Do the risers have any weight limitations (looking up to #90 or maybe #100 if I ever get to Africa)?

Lots of bowyers are making machined risers, are there really any performance differences between the different brands?  I would really interested if anyone has tried the same limbs on different risers to really compare them.

Whose risers do you like shooting the best?  

Thanks and hopefully this will make my wife happier  

[koger]

I have had several, go with the Tradtech Titan from lancaster archery.com. Tough, easy to shoot and tune with their Black Max limbs especially the carbon limbs. The 17" riser is compact, so it and limbs can go in a suprisingly small package. You cant hurt this riser, period! You can often find them used for around $300, with a plunger button and rest in my case. Pm me back if I can be of any more help. Sam.

[2 Barrels]

Hello,I've been shooting several differnt ILF set up's lately.I am a confirmed Morrison fan.His stuff is a little pricey.But you defenatly get what you pay for with Bob.I have found that it seems to me that ILF is sensitive to you'r draw length.Meaning the length of the riser limb comination you pick can be a little critical.

I have a 28" draw and about any combo that comes out to 62" feels pretty good to me.And i like the 19" and 17" risers suit me the best.I've had three metal risers.They arent my thing.No real disadvantages to them just not the same as wood.If you are going to shoot of a elevated rest the metal riser's are the way to go.

As far as 90# to 100# limbs you may have trouble finding those.About the high end of weight i've seen in ILF limbs is 60# to 70#'s.You could probably find someone to build what you want.Alot of the difference in performance of different riser's is going to be in the limb pocket angle.Morrison builds his risers to be plus 10#.Dryad builds his to plus 15#.This means with a set of standard limbs that are marked on the standard 25" riser will gain 10#.On a Morrison riser and 15# on a dryad riser.A example would be limba marked 40# on a 25" riser will be 50# on a plus ten riser.I hope this didnt confuse you.You may want to give some of the bowyers a call and see what they think.Bobs a real good guy to talk to.As is Mike from dryad.

[oxnam]

Thanks guys.  They are a little more complicated than I thought.  I guess I may have to contact individual bowyers to find out the risers poundage limits.  

So is a certain limb pocket more advantageous than another?

[Ray Lyon]

The limb pockets are all the same so they accept any ILF limb being made.  The angle that the limb attaches to the bow is what makes the weight of pull different even if using the same limb swapped from one bow to the other. Morrison Archery would be a good place to start.  Dryad builds their own limb which is very nice and a high performer.  They may be able to build you a stronger limb.  Both are sponsors here, so you can find the contact information in the contact list.

[Keith Karr]

I second what Koger said. The TradTech Titan riser is very good. I've owned the DAS and Morrison wood risers...they are nice but the Titan has them beat in function and price.

I've not shot a Morrison metal riser but, they look good and are also reasonably priced.

[wingnut]

For the weights you are talking about go with a metal riser for strength.  Both the DAS and Morrisons are very good and offer multiple length.

As far as limbs, you will need to get custom built.  We are currently doing a pair of 80# curve limbs for a customer going to OZ for buffalo.

Mike

[Bill Carlsen]

For ILF bows the best shooting will have the best limbs. It is that simple. For the weights that you are planning on shooting you will need to get custom lmbs...Morrison, Border, Dryad, Sky could probably all make you what you want.  Do our research on limbs and get the best you can afford.

[Turkeys Fear Me]

If I'm not mistaken, TradTech was the first to bring a short hunting riser with the ILF connection to market with the Titan.  Since then, they have introduced a number of other risers both shorter and longer.  There have been a number of others since then like SKY, Morrison, Dryad, 3 Rivers and Hoyt, all good choices.  Limbs are available from at least a dozen different makers, both custom and production.  

To add to what Ray Lyon said, in addition to limb angle, riser length also dictates what weight a given set of limbs may actually be.  For example, a set of limbs that are 50 lbs on a 17" riser might be 52 lbs on a 15" riser, 48 lbs on a 19" riser, 46 lbs on a 21" riser, 44lbs on a 23" riser, etc.  

In addition to that, each riser-limb combination will also have about 10% of weight adjustment.  For example a combo that is 50lbs at the middle preload setting, might be 47 or 48 lbs on the lightest setting and 52 or 53 lbs on the heaviest setting.

Like Koger said, Lancaster is a good resource because they have a number of risers in stock from different makers and materials and a number of different limbs in every price range that they can mix and match to your exact specs.

It sounds complicated but it really isn't.  Most people just find a combo they like, set it for how they shoot, and forget it.

[Avid Archer]

For non Safari application, TradTech Titan and Black Max Carbon limbs.

For the heavy limbs, those will have to be custom built, check with Dryad or Morrison or Border for those.

[vermonster13]

You would be better served going with a conventional takedown for the 90-100 limbs. The ILF risers won't be rated for that much weight, even the metal ones. David set a limit of 70# or so on his Dalaa risers I believe.

With the synthetic limb pad I doubt the Dalaa could take that kind of weight.  The Morrison, Sky, and Titan metal risers could probably take it, but I doubt you’ll get them to say so  :^)  Sky, Border, Dryad and Morrison would probably build a heavy set of limbs too, but again… I doubt they’d offer any warranty.  Don’t know any of that for sure, but it would be interesting to find out.

[Bill Carlsen]

For the real heavy bows you want to take on Safari, I would listen to what Vermonster stated. While ILF bows are generally awesome bows, they have problems with heavier weights than 60# or so. Based on my new HEX 5 Border limbs for my DAS bow, I would defiinately give serious consideration to getting a heavy weight Border take down with HEX 5 limbs.

[oxnam]

Mike "wingnut" with Dryad Bows is a great guy.  I just got off the phone with him and he was a lot of help.  He even recommended looking at some other bowyers and other options.  He's a stand up business man that isn't only interested in a sale.  

[Turkeys Fear Me]

Originally posted by vermonster13:
You would be better served going with a conventional takedown for the 90-100 limbs. The ILF risers won't be rated for that much weight, even the metal ones.

Would you mind elaborating on that a little bit?  I would think that a solid alloy riser would be much more stable than one made of natural materials with the inherent inconsistencies of graining, glue joints, etc.

The stresses on the limb bolt would be the same, so wouldn't the strength depend on how the bolt connects to the riser?  (threaded directly into solid metal, or yet another glue joint in a natural material).

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this.

[oxnam]

I talked to Bob Morrison today and he told me that his riser would have no trouble with the weight.  He said the limb should be thicker where it bolts on and that it might be necessary to get longer bolts to accomodate the thicker limbs.  But other than that, there wouldn't be any problem.  Bob was very knowledgeable and helpful.  We have some very good bowyers to help us.

Mike had said the extra heavy limbs will have a surcharge because it is harder to hit the weights that will be ordered and will very likely take more time and possibly multiple attempts.

[Turkeys Fear Me]

Originally posted by oxnam:
I talked to Bob Morrison today and he told me that his riser would have no trouble with the weight.

I figured as much oxnam.  Was he referring to his metal risers, laminated risers, or both?

[oxnam]

We were discussing the machined aluminum risers.  I didn't think to ask about the wood risers, I wish I had now.

[vermonster13]

Originally posted by Turkeys Fear Me:
 

Originally posted by vermonster13:
You would be better served going with a conventional takedown for the 90-100 limbs. The ILF risers won't be rated for that much weight, even the metal ones.

Would you mind elaborating on that a little bit?  I would think that a solid alloy riser would be much more stable than one made of natural materials with the inherent inconsistencies of graining, glue joints, etc.

The stresses on the limb bolt would be the same, so wouldn't the strength depend on how the bolt connects to the riser?  (threaded directly into solid metal, or yet another glue joint in a natural material).

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this. [/b]

It is a function of the limb pockets and bolts. Bob will most likely need to modify the connection as he told oxam for the ILF system to handle the stress of the weight which also means the limbs will need wider slots so you won't be able to use limbs other than ones made specifically for this riser unless they are also modified which kind of defeats the main attraction of an ILF bow, being able to switch among limbs of different manufacture.

[LongStick64]

Couldn't the angle of the pocket be modified so he wouldn't have to go and change the width of the limb, also the length of the riser can also determine the weight gain right ?

Personally I'd rather go with three piece bow and a phenolic riser.