Glad it worked out for you. Would you post some pic's of the handle, fades, when braced so we can see how you were able to achieve success?
I have seen some failures(but still some successes) with the sleeve type takedown, when a guy cuts into the back, rather than keeping it intact. I suspect as long as the stress from bending is far enough away from the inlet it will be okay.
There were a couple of purpose built bow hinges available around 10-20 years ago. New Moon Hinge, and another one that I can't think of at the moment. They were reproductions of 1940's hinges. They were quite expensive, no doubt due to limited production runs, for a specialist market.
Robertson Stykbow also used to offer their own model, Connexion Hinge. I think they stopped offering them due to the high cost of manufacture. They are beautiful, precision pieces of work. The bending part of the hinge extends into the handle side so it doesn't stick into your hand. The actual hinge comes apart. You fold the bow inwards, then slide the pieces sideways.
Reading from a set of installation instructions " A WORD OF CAUTION: IF YOU INTEND TO RECESS THE CONNEXION, WE RECOMMEND YOU BUILD UP THE BACK OF THE HANDLE WITH MICARTA AND NOT CUT THROUGH THE BACK GLASS AS THIS MAY LEAD TO BOW FAILURE."
I will keep my eye out for some marine type hinges, they look like a good option.
