What is too much reflex??

[newknapper]

I have a plum stave drying right know and it has like 4" of natural reflex, is that too much?

[shamus]

getting close to too much. I think 5" is too much, and 4" might be as well. I think 2-3" of reflex is ideal.

High reflex and narrow limbs can cause the limbs to twist on you.

[Ryano]

How much is to much ? The answer depends on a lot of things....How wide/long is your stave? How good are your tillering skills?  It can be tricky to tiller a stave with that much reflex but it can be done. You will likely end up losing most of it during the tillering process anyways..

[jwillis]

I have really been studying this subject lately. I am a student of bow design and performance and most of what I know has come from others on this site and others, so hopefully some of the experts will answer the question with a more scientific and complete answer.  Even if the bow has as much as 4" to 4-1/2" of reflex unstrung, you can often tiller the limb by changing the thickness and width profiles to bend the way you want it through the draw.  I am learning that just enough visible reflex at brace to provide stiff tips and a low string angle at full draw will provide better cast.  More than this can be difficult to string and may be unstable.  My test bows are showing me that one to two inches of reflex after tillering provides good performance and good behavior.  Deflex is also a factor... the more deflex you induce, the more reflex it takes to counteract it and keep good performance.  Jim

[newknapper]

How much is to much ? The answer depends on a lot of things....How wide/long is your stave? How good are your tillering skills?  It can be tricky to tiller a stave with that much reflex but it can be done. You will likely end up losing most of it during the tillering process anyways..

The stave is 68-69" and bout 2" wide. I am hoping some of it comes out, I am fairly new at this and hope I can get a bow out of it.

[snakebow]

I spiced together 2 bows and put 5" of reflex in both of them. After tillering and being shot in, the bows ended up with no reflex in ether 1 and they both shoot great.