Where should reflex be added?

[Pat B]

Since we are having these discussions I thought I'd add this to the mix.
 Where should reflex be added to a bow to get the most benefit? Should it be at the handle, through the entire bow, at the tips or all of the above?

[killir duck]

in my experience i have got the best performance with about 2" - 2 1/2" of reflex, with the curve starting at the fades and gradually increasing in reflex towards the tips, so far my best shooter is osage, about 66" long limbs 1 5/8" wide with a slight eiffel tower taper towards the 1/4" tips it's 66#@30". 

[PEARL DRUMS]

I came to the conclusion that 1/2" of reflex from fade to mid limb then a gradual 2-4" more to the tips on a 62-68" bow is best for me. I hold the most reflex with very minimal set. And my bows feel the best to my hands. I learned the hard way that excessive early reflex isn't a good thing without help from other materials.

[koan]

For my first few bows my form was a consistant arc.. They all took excess set right out of the fades.. I think it works much better with a gradual increase of reflex toward the tips... But to be fair, I understand the tiller process better now so I dont know if I would get the same results now. And no, I aint gonna waste a good piece of osage to find out, lol ... Brian

[Gus]

Another Great Thread...

I'll be watching...

For the record, I am using Cauls and Toasting Boards designed with Specs I got from Gary Davis's Rattle Sticks Video. Reflex begins about two or three inches out from the fades increasing to an almost Flipped Tip at the end.
Resulting in two to four inches of reflex, depending on length.

-gus

[DarkSoul]

"Where should reflex be added?"

Not in the kitchen over the wife's stove...

[Onebowonder]

"Where should reflex be added?"

Not in the kitchen over the wife's stove...

This man is a GENIUS!!!

OneBow

[Badger]

  I think the type of curves that Mark St Louis uses are probably about ideal, he uses the deflex to take some strain off the limbs and then reflexes the outer limbs.

[vinemaplebows]

I prefer deflex coming out of the handle then reflex, like Marc.

[Dances with squirrels]

The most benefit of what?

Various configurations of reflex(and deflex) can benefit the bow, arrow, and archer in different proportions of various qualities... I.e. the trade-off factor.

The nicest behaving bow I've made in all regards has moderate deflex with the reflex... almost semi-recurves, pushed out toward the outer limbs... not too unlike the last one Marc posted.

[Arrowind]

wish I knew.  reading with interest.

[Newindian]

You know it seams that our friends in the large scale fiberglass bow production may be able to help us out with a lot of the questions like this on here I sure there has been more scientific testing on their part with less variables between bows, despite the differences in materials do you think we could drum up answers for things like this from them?

[mwosborn]

I don't have a ton of experience with this.  The best bows I have made with reflex added were reflexed on a form with a small amount at the fade and gradually increasing to tip.  With that said, I have a osage that is naturally slightly reflexed right out of the fade (balanced perfect on both limbs) and it shoots extremely well.  I had another one with quite a bit of natural reflex out of the fades and it was a burger to get a good tiller and did not shoot great when I was done (could be the tiller and not the reflex ).  Interesting hearing from the experts here.

[Badger]

  [QUOTE} "You know it seams that our friends in the large scale fiberglass bow production may be able to help us out with a lot of the questions like this on here I sure there has been more scientific testing on their part with less variables between bows, despite the differences in materials do you think we could drum up answers for things like this from them?"

   I think they have actually learned a lot from us. The same geometry applies to either modern or primitive as long as it satys within the limits of the material. Primitive bows can be built very close to the very best modern bows on the market.

[mikekeswick]

Deflex/reflex gives the fastest, most comfortable shooters if you ask me. I've made 5 or 6 r/d recurved bows since I got the idea a year or so ago. 
I 'ripped' this design off from the fiberglass brigade. After going to the 3d National Champs and seeing a million of these bows all with the same design I thought....'well they don't make them all like this for no reason....A lot of testing has gone into these modern recurves....' You can't make wooden outer limbs 'open up' like some of these fiberglass bows but you can get very close.
The deflex is essential if you ask me. It makes for a really sweet shooting bow compared to a plain pure reflexed bow. As Badger says the deflex also reduces limb strain down to a point where you can have the energy storage of the added reflex but without the wood getting trashed before you get past the early 20's in drawlength.
Reflex for reflex's sake is like chasing your tail! Sure you can store more energy but at the expense of fresh belly wood.
That said if I was adding just reflex to a bow it is always,always like a reverse elliptical tiller. As wood thins it can bend further or another way of looking at it is thinner wood holds reflex better.