Take down?

[2bird]

Been thinking of making a 3 piece take down longbow. My idea is to make the riser then buy the limbs. Do people do this? what kind of problems would I run into? I haven't really built a decent bow yet (several board bows that where "ok") but I have built several flintlocks and have extensive woodworking and wood to metal finishing experience. any thought?

[delongbows]

It's definitely doable...I've done it several times myself. The only problem is getting the limbs lined up perfectly when drilling the riser for hardware. The easiest way is to drill and install the inserts for the bolts, then mount the limbs and string the bow to check alignment. Drill and install the alignment pins afterward. The most important thing is to make sure your limb pads are square to the riser and parallel to each other. Just make sure to check and recheck all measurements before you go drilling.
Good luck!

[2bird]

What angle should the riser pockets be at?

[Robertfishes]

I am going to buy a ILF riser and build ILF recurve limbs, You can buy ILF longbow limbs..you can build your riser to accept the longbow ILF limbs.

[delongbows]

Limb pad angle depends alot on the limb design, but for longbow limbs anywhere from 8 to 11 degrees should be in the ballpark.