Short maple stick bow

[tgr]

I've been whining about my beach wood bow, and I realized I had this maple bow I made last year.  It actually pulls 50# at 26in.  As you can see in one of the pictures there is a lot of "set".  Would this make a difference in the power of the bow?  If so, would you recommend heating the limbs and adding a little "deflex".  The bow is backed with an old piece of camo.  Since it pulls 50# I would like to use it to hunt this year. 

Thanks ahead for any advice, 
                                          Tgr.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[aaron]

yes, the set will reduce the power of the bow. you could heat it and add a little REflex- this  would help it out a bit, but reflex added to a bending part may disappear after a while, so one option is to "flip the tips". That is, bend the tips back like a recurve bow. what is the cammo glued on with? It would likely come off with the heating.
heres what i'd do- steam the tips for about half an hour or more, then bend the last 3 inches or so backwards. run it under cold water while still bent , then do the other tip. next let the bow sit unused for a week-. that should add a little arrow speed and make the draw feel smoother.
good luck

[ken75]

tgr it looks like the right limb almost hinges out of the handle it is the place with the most bend  , left limb dosent look bad though.  have you considered laminating a belly piece on. it would not have to extend the full length of the bow and would require retillering but you could glue in some reflex to help with the set and get an even bend through the whole bow. Patb did one recently that was belly lamainated like im suggesting he might could shed more light on this technique !

[half eye]

Hey tgr,
      ya didn't say but I got to believe the bow is shootin good for ya (or ya probably wouldn't want to hunt with it) if thats the case
AND ya have a fair amount of string tension at brace.....you may wish to consider leavin it the way it is. Without gettin too technical, if you have tension at brace....means your bow is applying power to the arrow clean through the power stroke and at 50# of draw weight that's plenty for through & through on whitetails at say 12 to 20 yards.
      Just one old mans thoughts so take it for what it's worth. Oh ya, odd shapes in the tiller dont allways mean the bows' no good, just means it's odd shaped.......if it shoots good, then shoot it, and send the old guy a pic of yer first dead deer.
rich

[George Tsoukalas]

I agree wit half eye. Anyway once you've reached full draw and refexing you add most likely will not take. Enjoy your bow. The tiller looks great. Jawge

[tgr]

THanks for the advice.  If it aint broke.......................
TR

[Josh]

Got your Maple bow bookmarked for Sept Bow of the Month contest too!       love those short ones. 

[tgr]

Flattered, but I really don't think this is a "Bow of the Month" candidaite.
TR

[Parnell]

I agree with leaving it as is.  If you shoot it well, then enjoy it at this point.
I think that bow should be in BOM.  If it's a shooter and your done fiddling with it, why not?  The contest shouldn't be about anything more than enjoying what the pool of people on here have produced. 
Best wishes.

Parnell