Question for the vine maple guru's

[lebhuntfish]

This week at mojam I done some trading and ended up with a almost finished vine maple bow. I have actually shot it about 5 times. It shoots good but even the fella I traded with said it could be a little shorter because it's pretty light. Like 25lbs. It's has a really nice tiller and shoots ok as far as hand shock goes. It is 68" long pulling 25 at 28 the limbs are parallel 1/3/8" wide tapering to 1/2" nocks in the last 8 inches or so. It's handle is stiff and not too long.

My question is do you think I could shorten it and get it to about 35 to 40 lbs? I only draw 27". Will vine maple take that or not? According to the formula for piking a bow I need to cut about 4.25" off each end. Any and all help and or suggestions are welcome. Thanks Patrick

[autologus]

If you are going to pike it 4.25 inches you will probably have to redo the profile of the bow and that will change the tiller, I sure it could be done to some degree but I am not familiar with vine maple so I will let the experts have a go at it.

Grady

[wizardgoat]

Vine maple is a super strong wood for its weight. I did a bend test on a piece, and had it nearly tied in a knot before it hinged.
I'd start with an inch off each tip and see what I get. Do another inch if its not enough, and exercise it in between

[bubby]

Here's my thought for what they are worth, 59" is to short, set your nocks no closer than 62", then if your still not happy flip/recurve the tips, that will raise  weighr some without getting too short

[DavidV]

Maybe try heat treating the belly, it's got high tensile strength right? I've never worked with VM though.

[lebhuntfish]

Ok so what if I pike it only 2" on each end and then sinew backed it and bent it into a reflex while it dried? That should make it nice and snappy and I should gain a few pounds right?

[Onebowonder]

Not a vinemaple pro here, ...but with sinew as you suggest, I'd think you could potentially get the higher poundage you are thinking about.  If you put sinew into the equation, the vine maple just becomes a carrier or frame for the sinew to work against.   You will very likely have to re-tiller the bow to some degree no matter which set of modifications you use to up the poundage.


OneBow

[lebhuntfish]

Your right Onebow, I have always wanted a vine maple to shoot targets with. Maybe I should take a deep breath and just think about it some more. If I decide to put sinew on maybe we could get together and do it? Patrick.

Brice, if you or Gordon are out there I would love to hear what you guys think!

[Weylin]

I've made a few vine maple bows but I'm certainly not a guru. I think you could get away with taking 2" off each end and then thoroughly heat treating the belly. I think you'd gain a respectable amount of weight from that without over stressing it too much. I would bother with sinew not because it wouldn't add weight but because I don't see sinew backing as a fix for a problem. It's a lot of work and material and in my opinion should only be used on a bow that was designed to take full advantage of what sinew has to offer though I'm sure other people have different opinions about it.

[vinemaplebows]

My expirience with vine maple and belly treatment is, that it doesn't help much...maybe a little, but not like other woods. 64-66 NTN would be what I would shoot for, but that's just my opinion..

VMB

[Peacebow_Coos]

+1 Weylin

[lebhuntfish]

The limb width is ok for cutting it down to about 64"?

[Weylin]

Normally I'd like to have my vine maple a little wider than that but I think given the low weight of the bow you should be fine. especially if you heat treat it. Only one way to find out! 

[autologus]

I dont know how well VM is in compression but I would be afraid of over powering the belly with sinew.  I would save the sinew for something that you know can take the stress.

Grady

[lebhuntfish]

Ok thanks so much for all of the replies! I think I'm going to cut it down to 64 at the nocks and try heat treating the belly and maybe adding a little reflex to the whole thing. Thanks again, Patrick.