Too much twist?

[steve b.]

I had this snakey oak stave that I wanted to make work cuz of the challenge.  It doesn't have a flat or straight spot on it no matter how you look at it.  I thought it would be cool to try to make a bow from it.

The handle and fades are deflexed and one limb reflexes back nicely.   The other didn't reflex and also had a twist.

I figured, what the heck, I'll attempt some reflex and maybe untwist it.  At the last minute I decided to curve the tips too.

I actually like how it came out but I didn't untwist it and so it may not work.  I'm gonna go ahead and see if I can get a string on it.

What think?

[steve b.]

.

[PrimitiveTim]

Oh yeah!  You got this!

[IdahoMatt]

I think you have this one.  You should do a single side notch on the twisted tip. 

[sleek]

You will HAVE to do side nocks or straighten those limb tips. If not, the bow will twist itself into a pretzel at draw and break. That my be to much twist for side nocks even. The bow though is awesome.

[osage outlaw]

I always get my tips untwisted to match the grip.  It isn't always  necessary but twist is easy to remove and makes the bow look better when its done.

[sleek]

It only becomes necessary when you recurve the tips, then they become levers trying to twist your bow apart. I have made many propeller bows with no problems at all....

[steve b.]

  All great points.  So I would have been better off just flipping the tips or more reflex.  The problem I see with removing the twist is the twist starts right at the handle.  The whole limb is leaning over.  So I didn't want to just untwist the last 8 inches or so.  Not sure.  Thanks for the feedback!

[sleek]

You can untwist it just at the tips and tiller it so that it doesnt twist as you draw it further back.

[twisted hickory]

If you can get a shooter then u da man .

[Del the cat]

IMO putting in the recurves/flip tips is a mistake, unless you heat out the twist.
You can have a twisted bow that draws straight http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,28324.msg376265.html#msg376265
Or you can have recurves which are straight.
I don't think you can have both at the same time!
Mind I'm quite happy to be proved wrong!
Del

[BowEd]

Great profile on your piece of wood there but the twist needed to be taken out first before putting any curves on it.You still can put it'll be a guessing game.You'll know when you get a string on it.
A recurved bow can be at rest with opposing propellers in each limb [even 6" of set back recurve or more]but to a very small degree.It all depends on that degree with yours.Good luck and congrats if you can get it to work.

[IdahoMatt]

Good to know about the twisted recurves

[steve b.]

Got a string on it.

I thought to myself, "I'm gonna do what these guys told me--do a side nock on the twisted limb". 

Then I said to myself, "what the heck is a side nock?".  I hope its what I did here.  I tried to use common sense to imagine the string pulling the twist into alignment.  Maybe I did it backwards?

This oak is noodley--very limp for its thickness.  I'm going to heat treat.

[sleek]

That sir is a side nock. They pull the limb to the side that the nock is on. So when you pull to bow back the limb will twist towards the nock. I do not know if the side nocks are enough though. You may need to still get some twist out.  I hope this bow works for you as it is a very neat looking bow.