splices for bows

[james parker]

the followin are Z splice---- fish-tail splice- lap-(scarf splice)- butt splice

[cracker]

When doing a z splice do you want everything to fit tight and perfect or do you want a bit of space for glue?Ron

[gstoneberg]

Very nice, but I'm confused James.  I was taught that a Z-splice looked like this:



and that the slash to the Z ran right down the centerline of the bow.  I use that property to line up the future bow on its centerline.  Also, both sides of the splice are identical.  I would call your top 2 splices a double fishtail and a single fishtail.  I know you've done more splices than I have, so I could surely be wrong.  If so, I would just add that there is another splice that I like to use and now I'm not sure of its name. 

O wait, maybe you're referring to splices in a backing?  In that case I would not use what I call a Z-splice, only the ones you show.

George

[james parker]

i meant to write W splice,, i dont use a Z splice much, most bowyers that use it ,also add a wood dowle through the center of the Z ,, cant do that on a lam or boo strip

[gstoneberg]

O yes, W-splice.  That's right.  There are actually 2 dowels in that splice I showed and I also agree it would not be a good backing splice.  You were talking about backings.  Sorry to have confused the issue.

George