Limb Tip Decision/ Help Me Think This Through

[ChristopherO]

I was intent on filing the tips on a new recurve build this morning and didn't notice until it was too late that I filed through the Fiberglass Lamination under the wood overlays.
Here are a couple of pictures to show the issue:

Without string:




My first thought was that this is shot and will split out on a 55#-60# bow.  That would mandate piking and recutting the limbtips to resolve the problem.  But, then I looked back on my all wood bow builds  and know that as long as I don't violate the back fibers a B50 string will not harm the wood in any way.  There may be a small about of FG still there but the wood lam was not harmed.
So I am leaning on finishing it up the way it is and marking the bow specs for B50 only.

Another thought is to mix up a small amount of Smooth On and coat the groove with it and maybe a thin strip of fiberglass cloth to bond it all back together.
Any thoughts and suggestions will be appreciated.

[Bradford]

Looks to me like you still have a good amount of "meat" left on the tip.. I like the idea of using a bit more smooth on, just to seal it all up and protect it.. then marking it as a B50 string only.

In my opinion, that would be the best fix without all the re-work, and still would have a nice usable bow.

[Dick in Seattle]

Just a thought, but looking at it it appears to me that you could grind off the overtip, then put a new tip on consisting of a layer of glass (piece you cut off for the riser?) and the new tip.   The Smooth On would help fill in the gap between the original glass lam and the new glass tip layer.  You'd have plenty of string thickness to work with.   The increased tip weight might cost you a tiny bit of speed, but I'd be a lot more confident of the bow, given the weight you mention.

[Swissbow]

I agree with Dick on sanding it down to the glass and rebuild it. I would use phenol to rebuild the tip overlay. Just use plenty of epoxy to make sure that there are no gaps left. After that you can finish the string groove the way you intended to.

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Andy

[kennym]

I wouldn't risk shooting it with no glass left on the back especially, I'll go with Dick and Andy and say grind off the wood and smooth-on some phenolic on and leave plenty of it where the string rides.

[ChristopherO]

You fellas got me to thinking that the best route is to take off the wood and reoverlay, so to speak.  I'm now thinking to replace the wood with a chunk of deer antler for strengh and asthetics.
Thumbs up for all your replies!
Christopher

[Art B]

Filing your tip/overlay down at a slight angle is what I would do if'n it were mine. Then replace with whatever you want. Once finished, you would never know that there was a problem, would be quite strong, and looks pretty nifty too! Art

[Robertfishes]

Like Kenny and others have suggested I would sand down to the glass and add another piece of glass. The pic shows one way I make my tips,this is a long bow, first I added a 040 piece of white glass, then a piece of 1/8" black phenolic, then another piece of 040 white glass, then a 020 piece of wood veneer. I always taper the end of my pieces before I glue them on..     this is a recurve tip.