Author Topic: More reflex-top or bottom  (Read 5566 times)

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Offline bradsmith2010

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #15 on: January 10, 2020, 12:24:24 pm »
I knew I was gonna get confused,,, :NN

Offline DC

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #16 on: January 10, 2020, 12:30:37 pm »

Are you sure about that?

I made a choice to never be sure of anything. I feel that being "sure" of something leads to a closed mind. I'll only go as far as "pretty sure". :D
That said, I was assuming same thickness etc. but it doesn't have to be does it. So if we make the reflexed limb a little thinner it could be the same as the other limb. I guess we've all made bows that have a little reflex in one limb and none in the other. But now I'm losing track of my original question so I'll rephrase it

If I have one limb with more reflex can I have a balanced bow that looks right at brace and full draw? Can I achieve this by putting the reflexed limb at the top or bottom?

Offline DC

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #17 on: January 10, 2020, 12:31:04 pm »
I knew I was gonna get confused,,, :NN
Sorry :D

Offline bradsmith2010

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #18 on: January 10, 2020, 12:35:21 pm »
ok Im pretty sure you can do it,,
I usually put the reflexed limb at the top,, not sure how it gonna look on your bow,,
my thinking has been,, that if some of the reflex comes out,, I want that on the top limb,, so I still have a positive tiller,,
Im pretty sure it has worked fine like that,, but open to suggestions on what would work better,, :)

Offline PatM

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #19 on: January 10, 2020, 12:54:05 pm »
Are the limbs equal in length?

Offline Dances with squirrels

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #20 on: January 10, 2020, 01:46:05 pm »
"People don’t like their bows looking out of tiller at brace, Jeff."

I know bud, trust me, I know  ::)  That's one of the reasons I pass on most of these tiller conversations nowadays. The fact that they're not open to it is an issue because many bows should look 'out of tiller' in order to be tillered their best. A bow with reflex in just one limb is one of them.

Note my signature...  ;)
Straight wood may make a better bow, but crooked wood makes a better bowyer

Offline DC

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #21 on: January 10, 2020, 01:47:05 pm »
Are the limbs equal in length?
Yes

Offline bradsmith2010

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #22 on: January 10, 2020, 02:25:45 pm »
Ok can u try it one way,,,and if not happy turn it over,,.I always like to leave my options open in case im wrong )P(

Offline DC

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #23 on: January 10, 2020, 02:51:29 pm »
Yup, haven't touched the handle yet ;D

Offline Dances with squirrels

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #24 on: January 11, 2020, 07:03:33 am »
"If I have one limb with more reflex can I have a balanced bow that looks right at brace and full draw?"

Maybe. Maybe not. If the handle is kept straight/level, how much difference is there in the limbs of your stave? 'Looks right' is subjective. Forget 'looks right'. You want a bow that ACTS right. So the questions should be...

A). If I have one limb with more reflex, can I have a balanced bow that acts right? B). What would it look like at full draw and at brace height... after balancing?

A) Yes. It can and should be balanced to act right.

B) How it would look after being taught to act right, after balancing and good tillering, like other bows, depends on limb unbraced profiles, center and fulcrum locations, etc. Additionally, with bows like this, the limb with more reflex will 'appear' to flex less in the reflexed area and seem a little stronger overall than it would otherwise at both full draw and brace. It may not be, in either instance. But it will appear that way.

"Can I achieve this(lookin 'right' at brace and balanced at full draw) by putting the reflexed limb at the top or bottom?"

Only if your previous straight bows that 'looked right' were never truly balanced. Since they're different, if the tiller measurements are made to be the same, if either is right, only one can be.

If a straight bow looks a certain way at brace after being balanced at full draw, what makes us think a bow with one reflexed limb, after being balanced at full draw, would, could, or should result in the same tiller measurements or profile at brace? Sure, you could make the tiller measurements the same at brace, but is it 'right' at full draw where it really matters? Is either one? How do you know?

What if one limb was reflexed and the other was deflexed? Make it look 'right' at brace too? I'd be afraid to let the string go of that thing.

I know it's tempting, but don't try to predetermine/guess how a bow will balance at full draw by making it measure or look a certain way at brace. I balance mine all the same way. Some end up positive, some negative, some even.... but they're all 'right'.

For some reason, this is a big hurdle for a lot of folks when it comes to making wooden bows. They want their bows, regardless of their differences, to look a certain way at brace, and basically all the same... with a slightly stronger lower limb, for instance. Probably because that's what they've been told, it's familiar, seems better/easier(it isn't), and it's perhaps their only beacon during the process. Unfortunately, that's probably not how they're going to make their best bows.

Straight wood may make a better bow, but crooked wood makes a better bowyer

Offline artcher1

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #25 on: January 11, 2020, 03:56:23 pm »
Situation like that DC, I'd study the limb's growth ring structure to make a determination on which limb should be what. Reflex alone isn't an indication of a limb being stronger...….Art

Offline DC

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #26 on: January 11, 2020, 06:26:05 pm »
I don't think I have the ability to do that. I wouldn't know good grain from bad. :D I think it's a non issue in this case as it's a billet bow and the limbs sat side by each in the log.

Offline bradsmith2010

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #27 on: January 11, 2020, 09:54:28 pm »
I like when PatM says splitting hairs )P(

Offline George Tsoukalas

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #28 on: January 12, 2020, 07:22:04 am »
I feel that the split finger draw adds strain to the bottom limb. I'd put it on the bottom. Sure both limbs should be balanced at full draw in the hand or rope and pulley  with no rocking in either.

But I would like that balancing to continue as the bow is shot for a few years.  I feel that the reflexed limb though bending evenly with the top limb would keep on keeping on.

Jawge
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If you ain't breakin' you ain't makin!

Offline bradsmith2010

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Re: More reflex-top or bottom
« Reply #29 on: January 12, 2020, 12:01:35 pm »
U might be right bout that,..that's why I am confused in my thinking,..I have one bow I hunt with,,.the bottom limb kept getting a bit weaker,..the bow was short,.I was pushing the wood for sure,,.finally after taking wood off top limb several times it settled in nice tiller and has stayed,,.I think on the shorter bows,,.the pressure on bottom limb is more critacal