bowyer question, she shoot! with updated pics!

[otis.drum]

how will this bow go?

i've just glued up a bow. i have put zero deflex and a load of reflex in the limb. the reflex is strongest just out past the fades and gradually less towards the tip. the reflex is about 6" high. i have added pics so you can see what i'm talking about. this is just a trial to see how it goes.

have any of you tried a bow like this?how do you think it will turn out? will it be too much strain on things? wil it be a pig to shoot?

the bow has two sheets of .050" glass with two lams of tulip oak between. two wood lams are about 6-7mm combined. riser is 20" long, bow wil be between 60-64" long when finished and i predict about 45-55#@28.

thanks guys

[longbow steve]

Provided you can keep it strung and it doesnt blow at the fades you will have a fast bow on your hands. I havent been crazy enough to go to that extreme ,reflex wise. Steve

[otis.drum]

steve, keep it strung? why is this? how wil it blow the fades? do you think it will be too much pressure on the fades being so much reflex, or because it's flat laid at the fades or both???

[longbow steve]

Hi Otis, Reflex adds poundage so less core is required to achieve the poundage than say a straight laid bow. More poundage with less material has to be getting the benefit from somewhere and that is by loading the lower limb more thus more stress on the area.
With regard to keeping it strung, highly reflexed tips are finicky to string and align so start with a wide limb and narrow it, you are making the limb alot stiffer through reflex relative to the side stiffness so it may want to list to the left or right unless wide enough to accomodate or perfect layout is acheived form the start. Steve

[otis.drum]

thanks steve,
so i take it i should make the limb width at the fades the same as i had planned, but keep the limb tip ends a bit wider than normal.

i'll be interested to see how this one goes. might need my safety goggles for this one

[pdccr]

It almost looks strung as it is, this was a good experiment otis Look forward to see how she turns out.

[otis.drum]

so do i

[greybeard]

Hi Otis,

Bit of a difficult question.

Did you have a particular bow style in mind that you wanted to build or this one more a ‘suck and see’ experiment?
The glass/core combination details, riser length and length of bow could indicate a bow in the 70# plus range, dependant on the limb plan. The extra reflex may help to reduce string angle but at 60” or so ‘n to n’ you may find the bow could start to stack at about 24” into the draw which in turn could add a lot more stress at the fadeouts.
The forward riser may make it less of a pig to shoot.
Are the core laminations parallel or tapered?

Best of luck with the project.

Daryl.

[otis.drum]

daryl,
no real design in mind, and the lams are parrallel. just laid it up flat and thought i might induce some reflex.chucked some chocks under each end and left it at that. probably a bit too much reflex i'm thinking i made it with brown glass and decided to experiment with this one as i didn't really like the colour of the brown glass.

i ended up making it quite a bit longer in an attempt to keep a 1 piece its 63" n to n, and 67" along the back of the bow. and as steve suggested i kept the limbs wider than i normally would. which in turn saw my estimate of 45-55#...i was wrong... coming out well over 80# at a guess. couldn't even string it. i've dropped it back a bit now (about 2mm of width off each limb) but not sure where it's at poundage wise. i still had to put a second set of string groves in it and use a stringer as i couldn't string it even with the reduced weight.

i have strung it and it is still very strong. i have drawn it back about 6" past brace (so around 12" i suppose) and it took it ok. actuall nice to draw that far, but didn't want to push it without tip overlays on it. am going to go slow with it (glasses on) and see what it does.

i'm waiting now for the tip overlay glue to dry so i can get back into it. was going to go for a hunt tomor, but i think i will stay and play with this little experiment.

[greybeard]

daryl,

i ended up making it quite a bit longer in an attempt to keep a 1 piece its 63" n to n, and 67" along the back of the bow.

Hi Otis,

I read the original post as meaning 60" plus being the measurement along the back of the bow 'n to n' and not in a straight line.

Keep us up to date with your progress,

Daryl.

[pdccr]

Cool, could we see what it looks like braced?

[Stickbow Hunter]

It almost looks strung as it is,

Toby, You do realize that it is going to be strung the opposite way to the bend (reflex).

I'm not surprised that it turned out heavy. With that much reflex Otis, especially combined with such a long riser and parallel lams I think you will find it will kick like a mule.

Jeff

[pdccr]

Cool, could we see what it looks like braced?

Yeah I got that much, i was pointing out how much reflex there was as i have never seen such a bow.

[Stickbow Hunter]

No worries mate, I don't think I have seen that much reflex in a glass bow before either - at least not in that design.

Jeff

[Longclaw]

Cool, could we see what it looks like braced?

Yeah I got that much, i was pointing out how much reflex there was as i have never seen such a bow.

I didn't well... that is what I thought from the initial post but then I just couldn't imagine it strung the opposite way to the bend. Thanks for the clarification Jeff and Toby!

It's a really interesting bow Otis, I hope it turns out the way you want

[otis.drum]

I hope it turns out the way you want

in one piece would be fine by me

[greybeard]

Hi Otis,

If you get to the stage where you cannot narrow the limbs anymore you may consider reducing the thickness of the glass. A steady hand and a keen eye combined with careful sanding could shed some poundage from the bow. Count the number sanding strokes on each limb and make regular use of the tiller board.

If the mid limb to tip area does not want to open up you can do extra sanding using more shorter strokes as you get to the tips. Some trapazoiding may help to reduce the poundage.

Daryl.

[otis.drum]

daryl,
re: the trapazoiding.

i take it it is best to narrow the back of the bow?

i will see how it goes tomor as is before i do anything else to it.

toby,
when i get the string groves in it i will take some shots.

[longbow steve]

Best to narrow the belly side when Trapezoiding according to current belief. As Darryl said by sanding the glass you can shed alot of poundage. Steve

[pdccr]

Ok Hope it stays in one piece.

[otis.drum]

she shoots, she shoots

i no it's only early days, and i've only put about 5 arrows through it but she's still in one piece. there is a heap of tension on the string at brace and it has a fairly smooth/firm draw all the way through. the arrows came out hard and i will take a rough guess at about 70# at the moment. but i will check that later.

minimal hand shock and i haven't done any fine/final tillering yet. lots of sanding and shaping today i suppose. if she stays together and shoots well i will try to get it finished today, and take it for a hunt tomor.

here's a few photos...

unbraced, and in need of some shaping and sanding

P9110032.JPG (144.49 KiB) Viewed 4779 times

you can see her profile better from this one

P9110033.JPG (136.77 KiB) Viewed 4779 times

my double string groves for stringing

P9110035.JPG (120.64 KiB) Viewed 4779 times

the riser is spotted gun ripped out of an old shed, and some bloodwood also out of the shed frame. there is some tulip oak in there too.

P9110039.JPG (150.84 KiB) Viewed 4779 times

strung with a six inch brace. might up this to 6 1/2 soon as it bit my fore arm a few times

P9110043.JPG (148.66 KiB) Viewed 4779 times

lots of sanding

P9110044.JPG (136.86 KiB) Viewed 4779 times

the rough finished shape

P9110045.JPG (128.23 KiB) Viewed 4779 times

strung end on

P9110046.JPG (133.98 KiB) Viewed 4779 times

laying behind one of my new defiants. you can see they are somewhat similar in shape. mine has a fair bit more reflex, and it starts a fair bit closer to the fades. might tone it down a wee bit for the next one

P9110048.JPG (119.13 KiB) Viewed 4779 times

end profile up aqgainst a defiant.

P9110053.JPG (124.29 KiB) Viewed 4779 times

hopefull she stay together

[longbow steve]

Good on yah Otis, You have plenty of length at 67" so you may be ok. It would be interesting to see the speed it produces through a chronograph with 10 gr/ lb, I think it would be a screamer considering the design. Steve

[Stickbow Hunter]

Looking good Otis and I hope she stays together and you get to take her for a hunt tomorrow. It looks like the limbs will work a lot in near the riser.

Jeff

[pdccr]

Wow, i bet it has a pretty flat trajectory. I never new the newell defiants were of such a similar design. It definately looks like a longbow when its strung. Very nice

[otis.drum]

toby, it is a longbow

jeff, it certainly does bend pretty tight right at the fades thats the point that looks like it will fail if anywhere.

steve, yes, unfortunately i don't have a chrono, and don't know of anyone in town that does. i might have to ask around.

i have only shot it from 5m, so unsure of speed and tradjectory. maybe soon when i get it shaped up a bit more. no point putting 8-10 hours worth of sanding into it if it's likely to break. might aswell check and try to break it first

[pdccr]

There we go.

[Coach]

Looking good otis , I look forward to seeing it finished and seeing it beside some game

[otis.drum]

me too coach.lets hope it lasts.

[Gringa Bows]

looking good Otis,have ya got any critters with it yet ...Rod

[otis.drum]

no rod. i didn't get it finished before the hunt so i'll work on finishing it off next week.