new member's bow builld

[Stringman]

No worries on huntin by Oct. you got plenty of time to make a huntin weight bow. Best bet is to get that other stave out and reduced down to near bow dimensions purty quick then post pics and let these generous and kind hearted fellers talk ya thru it. May even be some hope yet for that stick you're workin on... but I'd get er outta that form asap.

[blackhawk]

Welcome to bowbuilding101...its a steep learning curve,and be prepared and expect mistakes will be made..just learn from them and move on and try try try again,and then try again another umpteen times

[burn em up chuck]

    for your target draw length vers. bow length, your deflex should be fine. but the key here is if its not make another one.
  YOU can't make only one 

[Jim Davis]

Then too, there's the mistake of using "mm" instead of in".

[thomas74p]

still a little confusused on the whole reflex vs deflex. decided showing the bow facing the floor could be confusing some viewers so just to clarify. I think this bow is reflexed and recurved at the tips. so I modified the picture to help clear up any confusion.

[PEARL DRUMS]

The limbs are BEHIND the handle, that is deflexed. The bit at the tips is reflexed, it is bent forward of the bows imaginary centerline.

[thomas74p]

but the limbs are only behind the handle bcause I have em bent back. out of the jig the limbs will be straight when unbraced and therefore be bent forward of the handle. will it be reflexed then? if not what the heck shape is reflexed?

[PEARL DRUMS]

What makes you think they will be straight out of the jig if they are forced into a dried deflex in the form? 

[PEARL DRUMS]

Better yet. Take it out of that jig. Its not going to take you anywhere you want to go. Take a picture of it then, held in your hand as you would shoot it.

[PEARL DRUMS]

This should clear it up for you. First pic shows reflex and second pic shows deflex.

[DarkSoul]

In the two pictures above, the back of the bow (the face that is towards the target when shooting the bow) is facing up, towards the sky.
Furthermore, the second picture not only shows DEflex, it also shows reCURVEd tips.

Be aware that both bows are unbraced. Reflex and deflex are always measured when the bow is relaxed. Recurve also, although you will still be able to see recurves when the bow is braced or drawn. That is not the case with reflex and deflex, which is invisible as soon as the bow is braced.

[WillS]

Here's what your bow will look like with a string on it.  You've basically taken a straight piece of wood and forced it to look like a braced bow.  This is a bad thing.



What you want in a bow is tension at brace.  Stored energy.  If the bow is already at brace height without a string even on it, when you do eventually brace it to a sensible brace height the bow will have no stored energy ergo no snap crackle and pop when you let go of the string.  This is also a bad thing.

[WillS]

If you're saying that once this bow comes out of the form those limbs are going to come all the way back to end up in FRONT of the handle, then yes you've added recurved tips and you've added reflex at the handle.  Which is going to be a bit of a pig to tiller, especially considering that this is your first ever bow.  However, I gotta admit, I don't think that they will come back that much.  I think by the time the wood dries out and you take it off that form, it's going to look quite a lot like it already does.  So you've essentially added a bunch of deflex, with some nice recurved tips.  I may be wrong on this, but I don't think those tips are going to do much with that amount of deflex. 

[Josh B]

It would appear that you are striving for a 5 curve type profile.  I have a couple pictures for you to look at.  The first pick is the unbraced (unstrung) profile.  The pink cloth is the back of the bow (the side that faces the target)  you will notice that despite the curves, the limb tips are a couple inches forward of the handle.  This is reflex.  This is the basic unstrung 5 curve profile.  The next pic is the same bow braced (strung).  Notice how far the limbs have to be bent to get the string on it.  This is important to get the energy stored in the limbs so that when you pull the bow back, the starting draw weight is higher.  That means more total stored energy available to be transferred to the arrow upon release.  Or in other words, more speed.  Josh

[Josh B]

The best suggestion I can offer you is to forget all the reflex, deflex and recurves for now.  Concentrate your efforts on tillering a flat straight stick for now.  That will prove to be plenty of a challenge for you at this stage of the game.  I know everyone wants to come straight out of the gate with the best bow ever made by mere mortals on there first try.  It don't work like that.  You'll have way better luck by keeping it simple for awhile until you get the basics down pat.  There's no shame in simple bows and they can ( if properly done) outperform the more advanced designs that are only mediocre in execution.  Walk before you run and all that.  Josh