I am going to be getting a stave soon that I want to make a bow of about 64 to 62 inches with and hoping for about 50 pounds at 28 inches, pretty basic. I was wondering what kindof design will make the bow shoot faster and give it the most performance. I dont want to make it wider than 1 1/2 inches anywhere tho. should I reflex it, recurve it, reflex deflex it or what? It will also have no backing. I dont want anything too challenging to tiller tho but a general recurve is fine with me I just want to know what is easy to do and will give me a faster shooting bow.
You're at the sweet spot in my opinion with your idea. Recurves are cool but really only add a little performance and only if you can minimize the mass that it takes to keep the curves in. Overall, I think straight-limbed with a touch of reflexed (flipped) and really skinny tips is the fastest, most reliable and easiest to make bow out there. Keep the set down, minimize mass at in the outer limb and flip the tips and you'll be happy. If you want a faster bow, use lighter arrows.
allright thanks john from reading the bowyers bibles I can understand how this design would be beneficial. This is what I will do, should I reflex the whole bow and the tips a little more or just the tips tho?
Consider limb design also. I think once you get into that length range you mentioned the pryamid limb design starts to excel.
What John said. Often, recurves are much more trouble that they're worth. Best design going, IMO, is pretty much what John described. A straight profile to begin with (pyramid limb design), with tips flipped from mid-limb to tips. Once well shot in and showing around 1" to straight unbraced profile.
Other things to consider are, cut-in shelves, type string materials and of course, arrows......Art
id say that depends on your skills. if you notice enough set , you should do the whole thing a little , and flip the tips. with osage youre probably not going to have much set , so i wouldnt think reflexing would be needed unless you wanted to maybe raise poundage , which you shouldnt need with osage either...
its pretty much up to you , but i would personally put an inch or two of reflex into it , cause i get set...
-hov
Ok, Thanx for the info so far guys. Also what kindof cross section should it have? flat or rounded?
I like to use a slight radius to help prevent or decrease limb twist.......Art
Ok I am working on getting it down to one ring. I will post pics once I get it down to one ring. I am going for a 62" pyramid style flatbow with a 1 and 1/2" to a 1/2" taper and flipped from mid limb maybe 2 inches or so?
chris , your bow design should work . i just did a bow build, a 2 piece. its 63" and came in at 47#@28". it is also a pyramid design.i would heat in the reflex from the handle to the tip. when you tiller the bow you will loose some of the heated in reflex. osage likes to be round starting at the fades to the end of the fades to mid working limb it will transition from roundish to an oval shape at midlimb, if you imagine looking at the end profile. from the oval shape at mid limb to the tips are going to transition back to round at the tips. im sure other boweyers here with more experience will chime in and help explain more. you have a great plan, i cant wait to see your work. ruddy
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Have about 1/3 of the bow down to the ring I want. I am on a medium ring right above a big ring so if I mess up I have a good ring right under it.
The deeper into the wood I got the more knots that apeared. I have this somewhat large not is not a problem. I left an island of wood around it. For some reason in the pictures the light makes it hard to see the rings and it makes the orange wood look white.
John and Art know "what time it is" when it comes to self bows, use their info and they will get you shooting arrows before you know it! They have actually built LOTS of bows and have gained first hand knowledge, thats priceless.
You do not want to leave an island around knots on the back. As the bow bends it can lift a splinter at that island.
Thanx Pat I will start taking more of the wood of asap.
Hey guys I think I am going to flip the tips from about 9 inches from the very end. Should this area bend or remain stiff. I think im also going to reflex it from the handle a little. Im gonna upload some pics form earlier today. I have the bow drawn out and some shaping going I will upload those pics tomarrow.
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n582/christhebowyer/CopyofPicture003.jpg) This is my basic layout. Its not perfect but im generally going to remove all the wood without a line around it.
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(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n582/christhebowyer/Picture008-1.jpg) In this area of the stave here I had a bit of a problem. I was wacking it with an axe to remove some wood and.. whoops it went in to almost the centerline. Thats why I asked earlier about the reflexing at about 9 inches in from the tip and having that area maybe not bend as much and be a little stiff. It is only about 1/2 wide there now. Ill upload a pit of this tomarrow.
Looking good, can't wait for more! :clapper:
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My centerline got a little violated but the tips still match up if I look straight down the bow. It looks like the string will be slightly to the left of the belly of the bow. So closer to the where I will be shooting the arrow. How much of a problem is this?
I have a few suggestions and was wondering is your draw 28"??? Yes wider and thinner limbs work well on the shorter bows but with shorter selfbows there are several points of diminished returns IMO... Having a 30" draw this is really true for me... I'm actually working on a 64 incher at the moment... I would suggest running your working limb out from the fades 12-18" and taper to a 5/8 " tip from that point... Compared to the pyramid as mentioned... Also, allowing the handle to work alittle is great as well... I like to go a little narrower and sinew my shorter bows... Alot of folks love to use heat for flipping the tips and such but there are little performance achieved through such heating IMO... Atleast not enough difference to tell from you to the target... String follow should be expected with building selfbows to an extent... Do some research, experiment with a few designs, and you will find what you like best... Good luck on your project! Jason :)
The benefits of flipped tips comes in the form of stiffening the outer limbs which decreases limb vibrations IMO. Plus you get a cool looking bow
:D ............Art