I visited James two Decembers ago and did some hunting with him for a few days. We didn't build much in the way of bows as it was hunting season but I did manage to get two bows out of his scrap pile. A trilam with a crack in some paduak in the riser and a bamboo recurve with some twist in it. I filled the paduak on the trilam with some loctite and then set it aside for over a year. I had always thought maybe the best way to fix it was to cut it in half and glue in some new wood and make it a take down.
![](http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg15/bamboo_archer/IMG_2771_zps89ooppon.jpg)
Well I finally got to doing that this last week. Ended up cutting a "V" out of the riser and epoxying in some new material. Not the prettiest glue lines but I was hoping it would still be a good shooter. I brought the bow with to Haiti this last week and worked on getting the take down sleeves on and got the bow braced while there. Man it was a strong bow to brace so I didn't leave it braced long and yesterday after getting home was able to tiller it some more and get the weight down more into a manageable range. I am bringing this bow with to Congo DR this next week to give to a friend I am helping there. He just turned 60 and is a hunter who grew up in Congo. Lots of great stories and experiences.
![](http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg15/bamboo_archer/IMG_2776_2_zpsp8dprsl9.jpg)
lots of reflex (no its not strung backwards that is grout lines on the floor).
![](http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg15/bamboo_archer/IMG_2785_zpslrg6cexn.jpg)
Lost some of the reflex after bracing
![](http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg15/bamboo_archer/IMG_2775_2_zpsrgz44kzw.jpg)
Ugly glue lines of spliced in riser section.
![](http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg15/bamboo_archer/IMG_2783_2_zpswsfq6akb.jpg)
Bamboo backing, Ipe core and purple heart belly
![](http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg15/bamboo_archer/trilam%20for%20paul%20arrows_zpsicqxrxqv.jpg)
Today got it shooting. Hits very hard but I was really impressed how accurate it was. These two arrows were from 25 paces.
![](http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg15/bamboo_archer/trilam%20for%20paul%20full%20draw_zps6rhp1nfd.jpg)
tiller seems pretty good. Going to narrow the tips a bit and maybe get the mid lower limb to bend a tad bit more to match the top limb