Bow Tips

[bow101]

The last six inches of the limb tips are supposed to be stiff...... Is that 6" from the end or 6" from the string nock..?   Is this just a general rule.?  What if the tip section is only 4 1/2 --- 5" stiff..?

[huisme]

It's a very general rule. I built an experiment bow just to get the tips as flexible as possible, and I got within two inches of the knocks before breaking one tip off. I stick between four and six stiff inches now.

[mullet]

I go 4", from the nock. Anything past the nock is wasted wood and weight, in my opinion.

[JackCrafty]

Last five inches of my bows are always stiff, unless I'm making a reproduction of a historical bow.  I use pin nocks with no more than 1/2" sticking out beyond the base of the string groove, again, unless it's a reproduction.

[crooketarrow]

  4 INCHS
  I tiller right up as close to the 4 inchs as possable.
  Well down into the fades. The more working limb the less stess you put on your limbs.
  Less stress the less set and string follow you have.

[adb]

Depends totally on the design, but generally, I make the last 4" stiff and that's from the nock.

[Dances with squirrels]

You don't HAVE to leave ANY of the limb stiff and non-bending if you don't want to or need to. I usually push the limits of design and wood ability and want every inch of the limbs to do their share of the work. If the ends of the limbs work no more than any other part of the limb, there's no way it's going to break because of the work it's doing.

Any limb wood that isn't working needs carried along for the ride, and the more that doesn't bend, the more stress it applies to the area of limb that IS working.

I generally tiller the limbs to work right up to the string groove.

[Badger]

   I leave about the last 10" or so stiff on a reflexed bow, on a straight bow I usually leave about 6" but never actually measure. I feel like bows stack less with the outer limbs not bending but you do have to allow for slightly wider in the working areas.

[Joec123able]

Well it doesn't have to be an exact 6 inchs I usually just eyeball how much I want to be stiff

[bow101]

4"  sounds better, an extra 2 inches of working limb over all is 4 inches end to end which is quite a bit especially on a shorter bow.

[lostarrow]

In fact, ..............it's not a rule at all!