I spoke with a long time bowyer the other day. He said something that I never heard of before. He believes that having different wood lams in the belly and back makes a better shooting bow. He mention that since the belly lams see more flex then the back; it makes sense to put more flexible lams on the belly and stiffer lams on the back. It may not make a huge difference but it does make sense to me. What do you think?

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Carl is correct. The closer the lams are to the middle of the limb, the less the impact is. Some people prefer using .040 glass on the belly and .030 glass on the back of the bow. Never the other way around though. Dick

I've always felt that the belly or compression side of a limb does more of the recoil work upon release than the back of the limb. I believe that is why some bowyers will put the thicker glass on the belly. Another belief I have, but can't really prove, is that edge grain laminations work better on the belly than flat grain. Flat grain is usually more figured though.

May you be forever blessed with favorable winds and clear trails.

Ric,
In my last few bows, I used Action Boo. I think that this increased stability by having a more uniform limb. It stands to reason that edge grain would also be more uniform due to multiple growth rings. I think you have a very valid point. It would be a great reason to use veneers on my next bow. Good figure and still have the stability of the edge grain. Ever use veneers? Dick

Dick, I do use veneers quite often, some I grind myself and others I purchase. You can get some beautiful stuff from, believe it or not, eBay. I grind my veneers to about .0025". The commercial veneer is usually in the .0020" - .0023" range. I cut it with a sharp razor knife to the width and length that is needed, right before I glue the bow up since it will sometimes want to curl and cup on you if you let it sit around for a day or so. Naturally since it is so thin it is also usually very dry and alot of care is needed to work with it.

May you be forever blessed with favorable winds and clear trails.

Interesting. Thanks guys.

Up front let me a say a bowyer I am not. But I have been doing tons of reading preparing to start building some longbows.

From what I have read I follow most of what has been said on this thread. Edge grain works best under compression, therefore, it goes on the belly side of the limbs. Flat grain does not work so well under compression, so it goes on the backside of the limbs. It is also my understanding that carbon does not work well under compression. Therefore, if it is to be used, the preferred side would be the backside of the limbs? And the thickness of glass used on the backside would be reduced by whatever thickness of carbon is used?

Just a couple of questions to help me understand.

Thanks!

Bill

Praise the Lord, He is worthy

Bill,

Carbon does work best on the back of the limb. Its thickness has to be taken into consideration when trying to hit a specific weight. You need to reduce the glass thickness and/or the wood core thickness until the correct total thickness is achieved.

May you be forever blessed with favorable winds and clear trails.

I was wondering if any of you have used a double taper core lam? It really intrigues me how this works. Guess I should ask Marc, but never can remember to when I talk with him.

Chad

Long Bows Rule!