Reflexed riser

[Lazyeye506]

Hello all

I am thinking of making a bow similar to this one

http://www.cinnabarbow.com/marinerbows/kaiyuan/mmexport1438094594021.jpg

I shot my friend's and it was extremely fast for the poundage and an all around pleasure to shoot.

My question is this: has anyone here ever tried to make a riser that has reflex in the fade? I imagine making one is pretty similar to making one with deflex, just in the opposite direction. Any pointers for this?

As for the siyahs, I am also trying to think of appropriate woods for that. I'm going to need something that is light and rigid which can withstand the stress without splitting. I am thinking padauk since I have some lying around and its properties seem to be close to what I am looking for, can anyone recommend something lighter for better efficiency?

Thanks!

Mark

[KenH]

Reflexed risers are easy.  

Since you're going to do the siyahs "under glass", the wood type isn't nearly as critical -- it really just folds the glass apart.  Padauk is 'way too heavy for siyahs -- you want light and strong like Ash or even oak  

I've made more than a dozen Asian style bows -- wood-glass composites, wood-wood composites and bamboo-wood composites, and almost always use Ash or Oak for the siyahs.

It's the direction of the grain run that's important; ideally curved grain following the curves of the siyahs.  

You could lay up siyahs on a jig, using short lengths of "normal" bow laminations; cut them,  shape them, and then add them to the rest of the glue-up.  I've done that a few times.  Won't work well with a modern, fancy pressure hose set-up because it requires two or more trips under pressure.

[Mad Max]

Is that bow Fiberglass?

You can copy it if it is.
Put a strip of tape down the limb and draw a line every inch.
Measure taper rate and limb width.
With a pair of dial calipers you can measure the fades and the whole riser per inch.

I have tried making some like that.
I guess I could buy one.

[Lazyeye506]

Thanks for the wood selection advice Ken. I am a pretty novice woodworker so my knowledge of wood properties is limited. I'll look for some good ash. How did the wood-wood composites work out? I always marvel at how short some of the working limbs of these bows are.

Yes that is a glass bow Max, I was going to measure my friend's and make a few small tweaks to it so it isn't a 1:1 rip-off of this bow. The working limbs on it are about 10 inches each, about 2 inches wide, but they are quite thin and bend eye-brow raisingly far with those long siyahs.

It would probably be a lot more sensible to just buy one, but I've never been sensible