When I was a noob, and making a bunch of lam bows, I started using less and less deflex. At first it just seemed obvious to get as much as you can of reflex, and take advantage or Perry principle, etc.
What I found was that wrestling the limbs back counter acted the Perry results a bit, and that a gentler R/D worked better if well executed.
Anyway for self bows, I generally don't deflex anything. I don't like having to put a lot of deflex in the limb itself, off the handle, since it is harder to actually deflex the handle itself. Some of the guys have already posted ways around that, though.
If I am working with a naturally deflexed stave, what I do is even up the deflex, and then either recurve or reflex from there. I get the limbs moving on the long string a bit, then boil and bend recurves, then overlay or heat treat. OR I reflex the whole limb over a form with heat, and it makes a natural R/D. I like these enough that I am actually always on the lookout for sapling back splits, or other staves that will give me a nice, even, deflex.
