Author Topic: Uneven thickness of limbs?  (Read 1475 times)

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Offline smoke

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Uneven thickness of limbs?
« on: December 20, 2012, 12:25:31 pm »
Folks, your wisdom and thoughts on this would be appreciated: I'm working on a hackberry bow and have it roughed out.  I removed belly wood down to the 3rd growth ring (from the back) for the length of the bow.  At the fades and extending about to mid-limb, the growth rings go from being thin on the left side of the bow to thick on the other.  As a result, the limbs on one side are about 1/4 inch thicker than the other.  My question is do I reduce the wood so that I have uniform thickness on the limb?  I should note that my fades are 2 inches wide, with a straight taper to the nocks.  Overall length is 65 inches.  Thanks!

blackhawk

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Re: Uneven thickness of limbs?
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2012, 12:41:28 pm »
Yes you want an even side to side thickness in your limbs...otherwise the limbs will twist bad when drawn and be only stressed on one side of the limb, and not using the whole limb to spread the stresses out evenly.

Offline Weylin

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Re: Uneven thickness of limbs?
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2012, 12:58:10 pm »
Yes you want an even side to side thickness in your limbs...otherwise the limbs will twist bad when drawn and be only stressed on one side of the limb, and not using the whole limb to spread the stresses out evenly.

Agreed. You wont be able to follow growth rings on the belly, they will end up violated to give you the proper tiller. At this point the only thing you should be worrying about is whether your limbs are bending evenly. even limb thickness and a smooth, even taper (based on your bow's design)will usually get you really close to a perfect tiller.

Offline smoke

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Re: Uneven thickness of limbs?
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2012, 01:00:39 pm »
Thanks guys - that is what I thought . . . just had a nagging thought that I'd better seek advice before I went any further.  I appreciate the responses!