I have a 1 pc recurve that delaminated the glass on the back of the upper limb. I wonder if I can cut the limbs and turn this into a 3 pc takedown, attaching the limbs on the belly side of the riser (like a BW). It might be a crazy idea but the bow is useless to me now, but it is great looking and I'd like to salvage it if I can.

Is it possible? It is currently 61#@28" with an AMO of 58". Things to watch for when doing it? How will it change the draw weight and feel of the bow?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

that sucks man! such a beautyfull bow with such a nice drawweight...    

if it were me, I would take these steps:

1: glueing it back together, using smooth on (preferably)

2: glue on (glass/wood) overlays,wich smoothly fade out in the limb.

3: remove 5-10# of drawweight for safety.

I'm not a glass bowyer, but I've made quite a bit of wooden (laminated) bows...  

you might give it a try!

Nick

That sounds like a good plan Nick...maybe even some thin C/A glue first to get way down in there,..the places that smooth on will not fully reach.  

I think it would be difficult to cut the limbs and re-attach...only because the limbs do not have wedges in them to stiffen it.  Just cutting and attaching would cause a significant amount of pressure at where the riser ends and I expect it would happen again.  

good luck

I would try to glue the crack with epoxy and wrap it. For aesthetic reasons I might wrap the other side of the riser as well.

I never had a bow with such a massive crack therefore I'm not sure if it works, but i would give it a try.

I like the "wrapping" idea. What would I wrap it with?

I would use a flax string, they come in a lot of different sizes, so you can choose one you're fine with. I would opt for a smaller one, because they are easier to wrap real tight.

personnally, I think the wrapping will erase the beautyfull lines that inherit that bow. But that might only be because all my wrapping attempts failed, so far...

:s

Nick

I wouldn't bother wrapping it.  A quality CA glue, clamp it down and let it sit a good 24 hrs.  Reduce the weight 10# if you want to play it safe.

I've repaired worse delams in limbs before and they've held just fine.

On your next bow you might want to consider leaving the back glass full width until you're in more toward the riser.  The scallop you took out comes awfully close to areas that will be bending and is the likely cause of the delam.

I really like the lines on the bow!  

i´m with nick an the smooth on. you can warm it up, so it gets more liquid. then you can let it flow underneath the cracked glass peace. clamp it down, temper it, clean from smooth on rests, an finish it.

greets

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Jeremy; If I wanted to reduce the weight by 10#, what is the best way to do that on a laminated bow?

Thanks.