Thursday 20 February 2014

Repair Finished and Spliced Bow Quandry


I've got the back patch on the Yew bow repair done. I've strung the bow and drawn it and it all looks fine, were it my bow I'd tweak the tiller a bit as the upper limb looks a bit stiff in the outer third, but this is just a repair not a new bow and I've already done some extra work tarting up the tips and nocks which look much better now. I'll shoot it a bit just to check the patch next time I have my backstop netting and target set out.
I've included a picture of the fettled top nock, you can see I've flared out the groove a bit and removed some of the bulk

Meanwhile I've added a chunk of Yew to the belly of the spliced Yew bow in the handle area, this may well virtually disappear as the bow is tillered, but I felt it would give some extra support to the splice during early tillering. The big issue with the bow is the reflex on one limb.
How to proceed?
1. Tiller it as is, respecting the unbraced shape, so that limb will always look a tad stiff.
2. Use heat to remove some of the reflex, well that seems daft as a bit of reflex is a good thing, even if it pulls out during tillering. It helps to give a good early height draw weight and maximises stored energy giving a fast bow.
3. Use heat to add some reflex to the other limb, this will make it more symmetrical and easier to tiller and give a faster bow.
4. Tiller it to a low brace height and then do number 3. This has the advantage of getting a feel for how the limbs are behaving, after all the two bits of Yew aren't from the same tree, so I can't be sure how they will perform. It also has the advantage that the limb will be slimmer and need the heat applied for less time to allow it to bend. Doing nothing, wait and see, is often the way forward.

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