Reflex bow advice

[Galelyan]

I've just started on a new board bow and what I want to do with it is make it something of a hybrid between a reflex bow and a long bow. The board I'm using is red oak from Lowes, it's barely over an inch wide and 72 inches long, I plan to have a 4 inch handle and a bit of a fade, so the limbs should be around 32 inches long.
I'll be using a heat gun and oil to get that reflex in there and the grain is really straight but I'm not sure how heavy a draw weight the board would be able to take, especially at 1 inch wide so I'm wondering if there's any point in trying for the reflex at all. Anyone got any tips with this?

[Badger]

  Red oak is very inconsistent, at 1" wide I would bend the handle and shoot for about 45#. A good pice of wood might get you 65# but you just dont know. The waxy looking red oak tends to be stronger the duller more porous stuff can break unexpectedly at any point. We just broke one a few minutes ago and the wood was porous as heack looked overly dry. It snapped at 26# with a good tiller on it.

[Galelyan]

So apply oil and heat for a moderate bend at the handle. It would be a bend going through a rigid curved handle that gives the limbs a curve towards the back right? I might try to land 50 haha, I'm curious to see how far I can go with these board dimensions.

[Weylin]

I'm pretty sure that Badger is suggesting that instead of making a stiff handled bow you make a bend through the handle bow. This would increase the length of the working portion of the bow and help compensate for the lack of width.

[Galelyan]

Wouldn't the bow be too thin to handle properly? it would be pretty thin in the middle at that point right?

[Weylin]

The handle would definitely have a different feel than a stiff handled bow. You can build up the handle area with cork or leather and then do a wrap around that to fill it out so it is more comfortable in your hand.

[Bryce]

The way you hold a bendy handle and a stuff handle are completely different. It will take a few shots to get used to but once you got it, it will become instinct.

[blackhawk]

I agree that you will need and should make it a bend in the handle bow...and I find cork the best and easiest method to building up a handle if you want a lil more meat feeling in the handle...look at the bow I just posted...it has a cork built up handle underneath the leather handle wrap

[Galelyan]

Alright, bend through the handle and consider cork. Thanks for the tips guys. I'm thinking i might shoot for a 45# draw at around 26 inches, does anyone know about how much poundage recurving the bow near the handle would add? I was toying with the idea of tillering to a 40# draw and then recurving it to see what happens wih that.

[Sidmand]

x3 on the cork, it works very well.  Last couple of bows I put together have cork to finish out the handles.  You can get cork sheets from office supply stores (used for cork boards) very cheap.  Then glue them together in a stack, then take a file and shape em nice and easy.

[Galelyan]

How long does cork usually last? I know it starts degrading eventually.

[Jodocus]

You asked about reflex?

On a bow that bends through the handle, I'd reflex only the tips. In this case, the tips don't bend at all, so keep the reflexed area relatively short. And I'd use steam rather than a heat gun. To be precise: I'd bend the thing with steam, and then toast it slighlty with a heat gun while it still sits in the jig or whatever you used.

You might try and reflex the rest of the bow, but in my opinion, it's no point. The reflex will wear out. Some bowyers believe that a toasted belly is in better equilibrium with the untoasted back on some woods, but I know nothing about this. Have someone else answer that question.   

A reflexed handle looks real cool on most bows and is a great way to hanlde a deflex stave, but the bow must be longer to correct. For a quick guess, add the reflex to the draw leght.

[mikekeswick]

Reflex in the handle will increase string angle at full draw reducing stored energy.
Reflex the bow gently along it's entire length with the reflerx increasing progressively the closer you get to the tips. It should be tillered with an elliptical profile.

[Galelyan]

I feel like i'm getting mixed advice haha,
Should I use a stiff handle or a bending one? personally i'm more comfortable with the stiff handle even if the handle is pretty short.
Second, can you explain what you mean by reflex in the handle reducing stored energy? Would this not be an issue with a stiff handle?