Is fiberglass supposed to be stiffer than wood for its weight? the black fiberglass lamination I got from an archery supply store doesnt seem stiff at all.
Yes, stiffer than everything else on our bow. Stiffness meaning a higher tensile and compressive strength. In a .04 thickness it seems floppy, but if it was half the thickness of the limb, you would see the "stiffness". I will bet that your choice of materials will also show you what sinew can do, as the belly might "overpower" the back, or at least make the sinew elongate and work more than it usually would, on wood/sinew bow without the f.ff..ff.... (I cant say it here, without ruffling feathers)
BTW, challenging design, and nice job so far.
Thank you. I think I may have to add more than one layer of fiberglass because the bow is much too light at this point. I'm willing to do that, but fiberglass seems really heave for the amount of stored energy it would add, compared to wood. Is there a drawback to using too much FG in a bow? for example, If i made a bow out of 100% FG, would be physically heavier or lighter than a wooden bow of the same design and draw weight? there must be a reaosn that FB laminated bows have wood in the middle. I'm assuming that wood gives more stiffness for its weight, while FG gives more stability and allows more extreme designs. Otherwise, we would see more bows made 100% from FG. Right?
I'm still not sure about adding FG to this bow until i make sure that FG offers more stiffness for its weight. i want my bows as physically light as possible while storing as much potential energy as possible. I didn't want to use wood on the belly because the bow is reflexed, so i wasnt sure if wood would hold up at my desired 30" draw length. Horn or fiberglass seem to be the only viable solutions for this design since they resist compression better than wood (supposedly).
