Question.

Should an arrow shelf slope away from the riser? All I have seen are square with the riser except some of the ones that I have seen that were scalloped.

If you are shooting off the shelf, they have generally been designed with a curve. The idea is to have a point of contact below the arrow that lines up with the contact point of the hand on the riser. That way, if you torque the bow, it has minimal effect on the arrow, the radius on the window does a similar thing.

Also, if you are shooting off the shelf, and you raise or lower the nocking point, a radiused shelf will minimize the displacement of the contact point. With a flat shelf, you could literally go from a contact point at the front of the riser, to one on the back of the riser, for only a very small movement of the nocking point. Of course, you can build up any shelf to do what you want.

If your bow is set up to be shot from a rest, then the shelf shape may be mostly to do with looks, and structure.

I think you might be misinterpreting what I'm saying. It's not the back to belly radius. It's the riser to edge of the shelf. Or the left to right plane if you are holding the bow. The shelf slopes away to from the riser. The arrow just falls off unless the bow is held canted to the right all the time, not only when being drawn or aimed.

Using a small square. The runout from the riser to the edge of the shelf is 1/16". Seems like a lot for a run of about 1/2".

Also. It is impossible to draw and shoot the bow vertically. An arrow will not stay on the shelf at all unless the bow is canted. Even at rest hanging vertically from a bow hanger.

Is this an older target bow? A lot of the recurves from the 60s were built with a sloped shelf, Herters, and some Pearson's come to mind. In fact, I'm working on a 70ish Pearson Javelina right now that's built like this. They were built to use a stick on elevated rest. Try a Hoyt Super Rest, Bear Weather Rest or a brush rest.

There is no right answer or industry standard. It depends on the bow, and the bowyer that finished it that day. You TUNE the bow to shoot for YOU.

Hoyt, Bear, Pearson, Herters, and others have had those. Back then most target shooters opted for a stick-on rest. If there is a little room, you can maybe still set it up for shelf shooting with little rasp work. I know the "trad" rules object to a stick-on rest versus the shelf, but it's been done since the early 50's by archers. Guess that's not old enough to be "trad." Smiley face goes here. Sort of.

You can build a shim for the shelf if you don't want a stick on rest. A small piece of a paint stir stick can be sanded to match the contour of your shelf and level it up. Radius the sides and glue it on.

I just shaved a little off the side a furniture pad on my wife's riser.

It's a brand new custom long bow.

I see four choices. Shoot it canted, take a rasp to it, build the above-mentioned popsicle stick shim or make a wedge that is tapered and put it across from the outside edge of the shelf to the inside as a leveler, use a stick on rest or ask the bowyer to modify it.

Oops, guess that makes five. :-)

You might want to start with the least intrusive option to retain the resale value.

Me? I'd use the rasp but OTOH I've done a lot of that sort of thing and don't often resell a bow.

A lot of money invested in a custom bow. Shouldn't have to take a rasp to it. Just my opinion. I've contacte the builder and see how to proceed.

I think that is the right decision.

I think you made the right choice too. If it's intended to shoot off the shelf then I would think it would be level. I made one once with the shelf higher on the outside that sloped down toward the side plate. Big mistake. The arrow couldn't paradox because of the shelf. Filed it down and my problems disappeared.

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