Hi As the title says, this is the my first attempt at making a laminated longbow. I bought the ash/jatoba laminate pre-glued, and I have glued on and shaped (read ruined!) the riser/handle. The laminate stave had a moderate unsymmetrical reflex, the limb with the more profound reflex ended up to be the top limb in the unsymmetrical design.

So when shaping the fades I ended up making a pretty nasty groove at the lower limb fade, which will in turn, I'm afraid, dictate the final poundage of the bow. I've started tillering using a string 1" longer than the bow and going at 4", the lower limb came out weaker.

Top limb to the left! Got that sorted out, by using a rasp on the top limb. It might be difficult to see from the picture, but the lower (right) limb seems to be bending a lot at the fade and I'm wondering if I should try to equalize and get a better bend at the lower limb at this stage or should I wait?

Holmerz, At least You are trying! Such stuff is way beyond me! Maybe Bodyman Bowyer can give you a tip? BE WELL! Batman

Thanks James Pardon my ignorance, one last thing I wanted to ask, since I'm afraid the bow is gonna end up too weak, I measured the draw weight with the + 1" bow length string, with the limbs bending 6", which gave a poundage of 17#. Can anything be assumed from this with regards to final draw weight? I know it depends on how much wood that will have to be removed, but I'm wondering if this can be compared to a full brace?

In advance thanks Erik

You want both limbs to bend the same. Work closer to the handle and you will have better results. Go slow, you can alwasy take more off, but it's pretty hard to put it back on.

Enjoy the journey.

TBB

Thanks Robert, patience is not my strong side, but I'll try to constrain myself :)

\Erik

Erik, for the sake of clarity... do you mean this is a piece of jatoba with an ash backing? No fiberglass on the back, right?

It would benefit us before giving tillering advice, to see the stave's profile unstrung, resting on your tillering tree just like it is above, top limb to the left. The reason is, you mentioned the top limb has more reflex than the bottom, but we don't know how MUCH more. In the first picture, the bottom limb looked to be coming down the tree farther(which it likely SHOULD since it has less reflex and started off lower).

Another thing, don't be in a hurry to address what you think you see at the inner limb. For one thing, I don't think it looks too bad there, and for another, you're using a long string right now, and when you switch to the proper length string for the bow, the limb profile will change... i.e. the outer limb will show more bend, the inner will show less... so don't be too judgemental of the inner/outer comparison just yet.

Right now you should gradually work your way towards 9-10" of limb tip movement with this long string, at which point you can brace it with a string that brings it to a proper brace height.

You probably already know this but... never draw the bow past a flaw in the tiller. If a flat spot or weak spot is revealed, stop, fix the flaw, and exercise the limbs 30-40 times to register the correction, then inspect it again before drawing it to the next inch mark(that is, inch of draw, not limb tip travel). By the way, do you have draw length marks down the middle of your tillering tree there? I can't see them.

Hi Jeff

Yes only ash back/jatoba belly, no fiberglass.

Yes you are of course right about the top limb additional reflex adding to the equation.

Here's a picture of the unbraced profile.

Thanks again Jeff, this is just the type of advice I'm looking for. I have now added draw length markings as well. I have worked it down to 6" and I think it's looking ok, besides that the lower limb is now bending less than the top one.

Been working some further to get the limbs to 8". I've been staring at the pics for some time now, but I can't decide whether it's good or not. The lower (right) limb seems to have a decent bend besides for the last 8" or so. The top limb (left) seems a bit stiff the outermost 12". But at stage, with the loose string, isn't that ok?

Another thing I've been meaning to ask, is whether I have positioned the bow correctly in the tiller tree; the bow is centered in the tree, with the snap hook pulling in alignment with the arrow shelf! But the bend in each limb will never be superimposable due to the asymmetrical placement of the riser, Am I right in that?

I've inverted the inverted the colors as I find it easier to look at.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u199/holmerz/BUE/8%20inch%20limb%20rotated%201-6%20degree_inverse%20colors.jpg~original

sorry here's the link for a larger picture.

Well can't make the linking to work. Also tried to trace the bending in paint, but with the lower limb (right) being 1" shorter than the upper one, would it make sense to make the center of the oval shape in alignment with the bow at the center at bow or the center of the riser?

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u199/holmerz/BUE/8%20inch%20l imb%20rotated%201-3%20degree%20%20trace.jpg~original

Sorry for all the questions, hope someone can help.

In advance thanks Erik

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u199/holmerz/BUE/8%20inch%20l imb%20rotated%201-3%20degree%20%20trace.jpg~original

last attempt `(

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