Pro and con of a 1) cut in shelf VS 2)No shelf

[adb]

Hi,
Shelf... no shelf. I think they both have their place, and I use both. I think a selfbow just somehow looks un-natural with a cut in shelf. A laminate and backed bow, however, looks great with a shelf. It is much easier to get your arrows to fly well with a shelf, and the bow is much more forgiving of various spined arrows. I think it's personal, and both are perfectly fine.

[RT]

This actually bring me to the next question. for a all wood boo bow say 56NTN, in order to cut a shelf, that handle area need to be NON bending...........correct ?, having said that, if I was to built up a handle and including the fae out area, I think very conservatively i can get away with 9 " fade tip to fade tip.

With the above in mind , it mean i actually have 23.5"(56/2 =28, minus 4.5) of working limbs pulling it up to my draw of 24" 

Will this be too much stress for a boo/wood bow?

[Rich Saffold]

It should be fine RT. Usually on a bendy handled "D" bow you can have the bow be twice the drawlength or less in length so you are within 1/2" of that..I have the same ratio on a favorite of mine,  a hard r/d  thoroughly abused for the purpose of "science" ..and its still alive.
Rich

[RT]

I am really learning a lot on this PA site, feels great to have found this site and communicate with so many helpful people. Thanks!

RT

[Marc St Louis]

Marc, do you happen to have a pic of the kind of shelf you describe in your previous post? I'd like to see how you do it.

I do Gordon on my site but I guess it's down right now. I will post some pics when it's back up

[Sidewinder]

I would think that the center shot shelf would eliminate the arrow spine issue and open up a plethera of shafting options. I agree that the shelf on a self bow makes it less "primitive " looking but I think Justin nailed it when he said that unless we are making them with stone tools, then it doesn't really qualify as primitive, does it? When we think of over all versatility and use of available resources having more shafting options ie..spining not an issue, may tend to lean towards a center shot shelf set up. Thats just a humble observation.

[Pat B]

I think that the fact of cutting in a shelf is what offends(?) most folks when it comes to wood bows. It is reminiscent of modern FG bows. An added on shelf is a familiar site with the  wood bows of the 30's, 40's and 50's so it seems more acceptable. When I started building wood bows I cut in a shelf and used a deep handle. Since Dean Torges came out with "Hunting the Osage Bow" I have been using a bulbous handle(and lately a Ferret's floppy rest). This allows for more homogeneous transition between handle and limbs and allows for more working limb close to the handle.
   It really doesn't matter to me what someone else uses as far as handles. As long as they are having fun, that's all that matters. I personally like the idea of getting as far away from modern design and making bows as simple as possible and still be effective.   Pat

[Ryano]

Pat, I've seen quite a few old wooden production bows with a cut in shelf...I don't think this is as new a Idea as most people think. I know I remember reading a article some where about a ancient bow found with a arrow shelf cut in it.....

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

Cut in shelf is just plain hugly

...I get even my glass bows without it.