Ok have question and maybe someone can direct me. Is there a more methodical way of cutting curved splices in bow laminations othere then tracing them out and eyeing it? So far i can cut straight lines but i do want to sand out like s shapes. Also the ones i have managed to end up with leave stress mark around the splice, is this do to placement of the splice? I would assume so. I know there are some of you with the same type question.

Stress marks

That's a bummer. I made some limbs with almost the exact same pattern, only my purple heart tapers away from the middle 1/4" center splice, in opposite directions. They only go out to about 5", so maybe mine won't get stressed as much in a less working part of the limbs. I haven't built the handle yet, so the limbs haven't been bent. Now I almost hate to finish it :( As far as curved lines, I would sand the first piece where I liked it. Then I'd overlap the pieces and draw a line to the curve onto the second piece and then sand to that line with a spindle sander. Keep fine tuning it till you don't see light between the pieces. Others may have better suggestions.

BTW, do your splices go all the way through both wood lams? That could cause a weak point. Mine only go through the back layer, not the belly layer. Also, if you plan on doing lots of bows, building good accurate jigs would be the answer to sanding without lines to worry about.

I stack the different woods, cut with bandsaw carefully, then fill kerf with contrasting wood. Perfect everytime with no sanding. Carl

Yes, stack the two different kind of woods and saw your chosen pattern thru both at the same time.

Are you splicing these as thin laminations? I like to splice mine as a board so I get a better glue joint. I then run the board through a jointer and resaw it into thin laminations and sand them down from there. That way you get a nice, flat, strong seem.

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