Bowyers-any special tricks to trapping Limbs ?

[Steve Clandinin]

Hey Bowyers,heres my dilema.I have a beautiful Chek-Mate Golden Hawk Hill LB thats got a lot of sentimental valu.The only problem ,its alot heavier than I can handle.First,if I trapped the belly would I loose 4 to 5 pounds.I've built bows and have a huge wood working shop with lots of woodworking experience.Any special instruction,tricks or things I should be aware of,any help would be greatly appreciated,thanks ever so much.

[nashoba]

I normally loose about 8 lbs. when I trap the belly and radius all the corners so that 8 lbs. is figured in  at glue up. I hope this helps.

[Steve Clandinin]

Hey Alex,it sure does help,thanks.

[fujimo]

i know a lot of bowyers prefer to trap the back- due to the inherent properties of the glass.

[Steve Clandinin]

Hey Wayne,good to hear from ya,I hope all is well.Like I said ,it seams to make bows livlier,I really like the feel.I guess my biggest concern is not screwing up the bow.

[jhk1]

Perfect timing for this thread-- I'm very interested to read the collective wisdom from the bowyers here.  I've got a Ben Pearson Ol' Ben 5000 70" AMO Hill-style that I've lightened some (it's about 53# now), but want to take about 4 or 5 more pounds off, and hopefully improve the shooting manners of (lots of handshock).  I've narrowed the limbs some, and trapped it slightly to the back.  The limb cores are maple, under black glass.

I know there are lots of factors that can contribute to handshock-- I'm thinking that the long limbs (more limb mass) may be a contributor.  I've been thinking about taking 1/2" off of each limb (making it a 69" AMO bow) and narrowing the limbs some more and trapping to the belly.  I know some bowyers like to trap to the back (Steve Turay at Northern Mist is one), but I think more trap to the belly.  I know that shortening the limbs will add weight (probably 3-4 lbs for a 1" reduction?), but I'm thinking that it may perform a little better at 69" when I get the weight down to 48#-50#.  I look at this like I'm transitioning the bow from a thin, wide-limb design to more of a deep-core, narrow-limb design (depth of core remains the same, but by narrowing the limbs, the depth-to-width ratio increases).

I know I'm probably putting way to much thought into this bow, but I don't have much money into it so I figure it's a good one to experiment with.  I've got some nicer Hill bows, so this one's fun to tinker with.

[JDBerry]

Best to know the wood/glass racial before you do this, If you go outside that racial the bow will never perform like it should...James

[Steve Clandinin]

Thanks James,I was hoping you'd contribute.I was thinking of that plus other things that could arise.The actual amount to take off along the entire limb also concerns me as I want the tiller to be exactly the same.food for thought.
James,let me know how yours turns out LOL.

[fujimo]

everything is great- hows things working out for you- little colder there than here- we are still around +8 every day- hunting still open for another 5 weeks yet- then into the fishing!!!
take care mate

[Steve Clandinin]

Fuj,with the wind thismorning minus 34,a tad chilly LOL

[Kris]

 

Best to know the wood/glass racial before you do this

I think you mean "ratio"?   Where can I read about this?

Kris

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Unless you have some bow building experience, i wouldn't advise trying to do any sanding on the limbs at all. You are most likely going to end up screwing up a perfectly good bow.

My advise would be to spend a few bucks and send it to an experienced bowyer to look at carefully before giving you an opinion on what you can do with it.   Your existing bow may have already had the glass sanded, and sanding it more you could ruin it very easily.

This isn't as simple as some make it sound... .02 cents worth for you to consider.... Kirk

PS: to answer your question:  There are quite a few tricks to lowering draw weight, and most of them come from experience.

[Sixby]

My advice on this would be to sell the bow and buy one the right poundage.
What Kirk said is absolutely true. Also what James said. The problem is that you have no idea or way of knowing what the bowyer did in his tillering process. You cannot mic the glass and tell how thick it is now and if he or she did sand the glass already then how much and where at and even in side tillering and trapping how that is going to effect the bow,
I have refused many poundage change jobs on other bowyers bows because of this.
All of that said if you decide to do it then establish a center line on the limb by micrometer measuring and marking the exact center of the limb. As you trap the limb make sure that you stay exactly the same distance on each side from the center line.
I would reccomend to not trap to the belly as you may lose stability., Always to the back. You will also lose more poundage trapping to the back and actually increase the stability of the limb.
Hope this helps,
God bless, Steve

[Steve Clandinin]

Thanks Fellas ,All of this great advice does help and gives a true perspective of the big picture.There is definately alot more to this than an unexperienced person realizes.thanks ever so much,shes staying the way she is.

[JDBerry]

Deer Kris, me donts nos how two spells that goods,..lol..Thanks....j AmeS

[Hawkeye]

dARN cAPS lOCK!!!