Does Perry Reflex Self Tiller a bow?

[markinengland]

A thought struck me yesterday while just starting to pre-tiller a bow belly prior to glueing on the backing and putting it into reflex.
When tillering a weaker part of the limb will show itself as a hinge. However, a weak part of the bow or limb will tend to pull into greater reflex than a stronger part when glued up in reflex. With woods like Ipe greater reflex has a significant draw weight and strength increase. Once glued up the weaker part of the limb will be in more reflex and may well balance up automatically.?
Of course any tillering done before glue up to get the limbs bending in the right shape, in balance and to acheive the intended final draw weight will help a lot.
I mention this because I have seen that a bow made with perry reflex often tends to fall into shape really easily, more so than one the is glued straight.
Any comments? Is this just my imagination? Is it just the shock of a thought hitting me?
Mark in England

[Justin Snyder]

NO!  I agree that the weaker area would take more reflex.  This may or may not cause the drawn profile to have the appearance of a perfectly tillered bow because it could be in a perfect arc with the rest of the limb.  BUT, it does not change the fact that the limb started with more reflex in that area and that area bent farther to get to the final draw.  I don't think a hinge has anything to do with what it LOOKS LIKE.  A hinge is an area that is bending farther than the rest of the limb. And even though that area looks like it is bending the same just from looking at final draw, it did bend farther and is a hinge.  Justin

[Badger]

Mar,, probably just the shock of a brain storm, I get those regularly. When I do a glue up. I normally whip tiller the stave prior to backing. The backing is a larger percentage of the thinner part of the limb so stiffens it more proportionately. Often they will be very close to tiller when comming out of the wraps. Steve

[Kviljo]

Also, the thicker part that is not bending as much, will likely gain more reflex after the bow is glued up and tillered. At least thick laminates gain more reflex when thinned than thinner laminates.