What's everyone thoughts on taper rate for longbow limbs.

Depends on design. Long draw short draw etc. I have one that is .004 FT 13 in. Riser lot of deflex and reflex but will go to 32 in.with a 58 in. Bow
I changed  my 3 piece from .004 to .001 super lam because I wanted to move the working limb out and unload the fades. I may use a straight taper wedge in stead.

1.5" wide limb. two tapered lams 0.002 per inch. two straight veneers.

Mild reflex deflex
62-66" bows
usually my stack out of the fades for a 45-50# bow is the following
glass x 2 - 0.04
veneer x 2 -  0.06
core x 2 (0.002" per inch taper) - 0.09
Total Stack - 0.38

On my TD 64" I used .003 taper , straight taper from an inch past wedge to nocks .  Sweet shooter but always trying something else I built a form with another inch of reflex and went with .002 taper .  It was 9 fps faster , same weight and same arrow , but not quite as nice a feel as the original.

Just felt a bit harsh for lack of better description.

  64" R/D...  Limb has .003 taper... I use a hyper lam... Basically a 5" power lam and 4" tip wedge built into the lam...

Quote from: kennym on January 28, 2022, 04:06:25 PM
On my TD 64" I used .003 taper , straight taper from an inch past wedge to nocks .  Sweet shooter but always trying something else I built a form with another inch of reflex and went with .002 taper .  It was 9 fps faster , same weight and same arrow , but not quite as nice a feel as the original.

Just felt a bit harsh for lack of better description.

   Kenny, I wonder if it is just the speed that makes it feel harsh... Try shooting the faster bow with a 50 gr. heavier arrow so it matches the speed of the slower bow and see if it mellows out the shot cycle...  I am curious to what you find...

Shredd , the shot feels ok , but the draw is where it felt different.  I think the extra preload I wasn't used to after giving it more reflex.

 

I used an .002 taper was wondering what everyone else liked. 

.004 taper and narrow deep stack. JF

Quote from: Jeff Freeman on February 01, 2022, 04:49:23 AM
.004 taper and narrow deep stack. JF

x2

What I have not seen mentioned yet is the back profile used by anybody. A taper rate is all well and good, but it needs to be matched with the back profile to work properly. For those sharing their tapers can you also share how you are cutting the back shape to work with that taper?


Mark

That's a tuff request, showing the profile on a longbow. Id have to measure and draw it out. JF

On Kennys R/D I used the 58 - 60 form and made it a little longer and get a 62 in. bow. Keeping the .003 FT and the little bit of added reflex makes a really good shooter. From fade to string groove st. taper 1/2 at the grooves.

Quote from: Jeff Freeman on February 01, 2022, 11:59:49 AM
That's a tuff request, showing the profile on a longbow. Id have to measure and draw it out. JF

I was thinking more of the ones where guys run parallel halfway out, then taper to 1/2" nocks, that sort of thing. If your profile is more nuanced then that then a basic description should be good enough to get started. There is always some fine tuning required no matter what.


Mark