Afternoon!
OK. so, matching grooves run the full length of both the limb and the horn so that the pieces interlock. Karpowicz' book says this is a modern technique and none of the older bows he has examined are built like this. So, if you are cutting non-matching grooves, as long as they are running parallel, would it be OK if they do NOT run the length of the horn since, I believe, the point of the (non-matching) groove is to maximise the faying surface and to prevent the horn and the core from inter-locking - a series of overlapping, shorter grooves might be more effective than full length ones? Or would this be more hassle than its worth and possibly create a problem you don't need for tillering? Perhaps more importantly, he suggests that on matching grooves, the surfaces must be clinically clean as even the smallest particle of dust can cause delamination by creating voids, effectively preventing a full inter-lock and pushing the horn and core apart. Presumably this phenomenon is not present in non-matching grooves?
