Just curious, seems the risers on the bows you gents make are perfect, ther symetrical, the way they turn from a handel into the part wher the limb joins the riser ( no idea what these are called ).    
Do most of you guy's  just cut them out on a band saw then sand it down till it's  perfect or maybe a type of cnc machine???
 
                          Thanx J.reb

I cant speak for the guys that make perfect risers but I can say that a bandsaw is not needed. You simply need a template of the riser shape. lay it out and cut away all that is outside the lines.

I made my first T/D riser , a bingham template,with a hand saw, a large course wood rasp, and a chisel. Simply make relief cuts outside the template lines. then use the chisel to snap the pieces out. Next rasp smooth.

As for the contour work you can use sand paper of course or a 1" belt sander works well. They are cheap as well, 60 bucks.You will still need to finish with hand sanding.

Thought about gettin some scrap wood to practice on, I'd  rather ruin scrap instead of a high dollar piece, practice makes perfect, hopfully.
 It's  just I had seen some of these risers and ther as slick as a store bought piece, just wundered.

Johnny, you have a good idea with practicing on some cheap wood. Pine is great and soft. Altho really its not hard at all to sand out a riser and finish it with rasp and sandpaper.

Pesonally i use a bandsaw and cut out the rough shape when the bow is glued together. From there i use a belt sander to grind it to shape. File work from there to sandpaper. After a few risers the process goes fast, but be careful as you can grind to much, go slow, inspect often and you'll get it.

Large companies use CNC when they are kicking out production models by the lots. but to get a 5 and 6 "D" CNC cutter is 50 to 150K, so most don't use them. You'd be very suprised how close you can get back to back risers with the use of a beltsander, band saw and some file work.

Dave

I guess you are descibing the fade out. That is the area the handle fades into the limb lmainations. For a one piece bow that is. The rule I use is that the fade can be no more than 1/8" thick two inches from the end of the paper thin tip. Then I can bend it gradually up from there. Not to abrupt of a bend though because it would be hard to get good glue lines if the bend is too steep. I use a table top sander or a sanding drum for a drill press to dand to the lines. For the tip you can hold a piece of backing wood behind the tip to get the tips paper thin. Check out this build along  http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=001165;p=1

Thanx for the input ya'll,  great bunch of people here.        As far as a piece to practice on would a 4x4 work??  ( figured 2x4 would be to narrow )

I've  been diggin thru some of the build alongs, GOOD STUFF YA'LL,  INSPIRATIONAL,  GETS THE FIRE GO'N.

If you are building a one piece  2by2by18 or 1.5by2by18 is what I use. for my bingham T/D the block is 2by3.5by22

many other sizes are out there but those are the ones the designs I build use.