More reflex-top or bottom

[DC]

I just unwrapped a glue up. I glued it one limb at a time and wound up with a little more reflex in one limb. I'm thinking it should be the bottom limb but I'm just making sure I'm right. Am I?

[JLoranger]

How much is "a little" You may want to wait unil you have it tillered out a fair ways to see if it still retains the discrepancy.

[bradsmith2010]

that sounds like a good plan

[Dances with squirrels]

How I'd answer would depend on how you make bows. If you're one who builds them all with a stronger looking lower limb as a default, I'd say put it on the top.

If you balance the strength of the limbs at full draw relative to your holds on bow and string, then it hardly matters whether it's top or bottom. With a bow like you have there, brace height may look 'odd', but if odd is what balances it best, that's what it should be.

[DC]

I'll just keep on keepin' on then. I was thinking that if I did it "right" I could get it balanced and have the tiller look right too. Maybe I still can.

[bjrogg]

I'd use it for bottom limb.
Bjrogg

[bownarra]

Top limb
Why would you want more strain on the lower limb....the one (generally) limb you see weak on out of tiller bows Check out the position of your drawing hand fingers on the string...above center? Therefore the lower limb works harder. Don't make it work harder still

[Pat B]

I think you want the strongest limb on the bottom. More reflex means more resistance; more strength.

[DC]

Top limb
Why would you want more strain on the lower limb....the one (generally) limb you see weak on out of tiller bows Check out the position of your drawing hand fingers on the string...above center? Therefore the lower limb works harder. Don't make it work harder still

Thanks for the opposite view. I asked the question because in the back of my mind there was a little voice saying,"I don't know for sure". When you called it strain rather than strength it made me wonder again. "If" the reflexed limb is pulled the same distance as the other it will be stronger but when you draw a bow does it rock in your hand to equalise the two limbs? The stronger limb will stay straighter so does that always mean the weaker limb is strained more? Is this situation the same as a straight bow having a stronger limb or does it being reflex somehow make it different?
I'm babbling

[bradsmith2010]

If u gonna just look at it either way is fine...if u gonna shoot it there will be a difference,,,,especially if shooting off ur hand,..and the shorter the bow seems to make more difference,,,in how smooth the arrow comes off,..this can vary with shooting style of course...making one limb a bit stiffer,,,can make the bow shoot better or easier to tune the arrow flight....don't ask me how it does it.. ( the way u hold the bow,,.finger pressure on string,,,etc etc etc come into play how much you would adjust tiller,,,when it shoots great,,,the tiller is right,,.no one size fits all

[DC]

I think that the nock height adjustment is just compensating for limb imbalance. Just thought I'd throw that in.

[bradsmith2010]

DC,,.,I think that too,..but that adjustment will only get u so far,,, the only reason to make one limb appear stiffer is to make the bow shoot better

[DC]

Yeah, you don't want your RD looking like a yumi

[Dances with squirrels]

"If" the reflexed limb is pulled the same distance as the other it will be stronger..."

Are you sure about that?

First of all, we can make either limb stronger or weaker by how much wood we remove, so.

Secondly, if they DO start off the same strength, and are in fact "pulled the same distance", in other words, both limb tips travel the same distance respective of where they started, they will gain strength very similarly.

"...but when you draw a bow does it rock in your hand to equalise the two limbs?"

Only if the strength of the limbs are unbalanced, relative to the holds on bow and string.

That is a goal in balancing the bow, to get the limbs, despite any internal or outwardly visible differences, to travel the same distance during the draw relevant to the original handle position, or i.e., without the handle rocking or tilting in the bow hand. When this is done, the arrow nock comes straight back along an imaginary line perpendicular to the shelf... and leaves along the same path... straight away.

A bow with one straight limb and one noticeably reflexed limb should still reveal those differences at brace, and still, perhaps to a lesser extent, at full draw... but that shouldn't be the goal, or a guide. Instead, ignore that, and balance the limbs so the nock comes straight back without tilting the handle, and the profile at brace is whatever it is. It should be a 'result' of the balance... not a guide(guess) to it.

[PatM]

  People don’t like their bows looking out of tiller at brace, Jeff.