brokebow

[butch]

makeing a 68" hickory . 1.5" wide , 0.5" tips. to much follow ,i tried to recurve , and snaped 2.5" on the tip. recurve patterned from a 52" kodiac magnum, too radical??? if i take 2.5" of each end  it will be 60" n to n.. is this to short for this width??  will backing it help"?? preheated the tip , used light pressure with more heat and she stated going easy , then it broke.  my first bow it was pulling 55# , 24 " put out arras nicely. i have 2 others similar designed , floor tilleringnow. should i hang this up as a lesson learned and concetrate on the others or is this bow still worth working on .. thanks.                           butch             

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

You be better of steem bending recurves like that,

1 1/2" is quite wide, ....you should be O.K.  with a 60" bow

[mullet]

  If you cut 2.5" off each end that will still leave 63".At the wieght you were pulling and length you should still have some goody left in it.

[George Tsoukalas]

Don't worry about string follow until you've made a couple dozen bows. Jawge

[butch]

i cut it down and tried to string it without triming the limbs to get a stronger  bow .. SNAP. she wont put any meat up this year. will try finishing the others with better results.. anyone around okla. want to trade hunts in october i have some good blinds and trees ready .  thinking of room, board stands in fair to good spots.  thanks   butch.

[Badger]

Butch, at 1 1/2 wide, 68" long and 55#@ 24" the bow really shouldnt have taken more than a whisper of set, did you crown you tiller into a small working area or keep the fades too stiff for too long? Good to examine bows that don't come out just right. Steve

[butch]

badger , dont know what(crowning) tiller is? to start she had a 6" handle (too long) 2" fades,  0.5" down to 3\8 limbs, 1.5" to 7\16 tips .  1 snake around a limb, 3 humps , and 2 short high crowns on the outer limbs . originally 72" but seemed weak about 2\3 way out on both. i cut 2 " off trying to corract it, better but not good. heated and strung it backward with more heat. straitend it up but still weak at 2\3. then i tried the recurve and snaped a tip. shortend again and killed it trying to string it without narrowing limbs . hope this makes sence cause the next one is just like it,..weak at 2\3 stiff tips 72" ..50# @24". i should make a couple boards first without all the crowns, humps and snakes . seems simpler that way .  any way, i hope for more advise from you guys who can do this while nightwalking. butch

[GregB]

Butch, I'm with Manny in that steaming is the way to go for radical recurving. Also a shorter handle and fades would allow for more limb length bending. The last recurve that I attempted I also had too stiff in the recurved section which  over-stressed the working portion of the limbs which were to short.  Needed to have more limb working to better distribute the stress. That bow broke as well.