Guys...
I am drawing a xrecurve design to build and want to ask - What design elements contribute to limb stacking ?? I made a R/D long bow 3 years ago and hate shooting it because it stacks pretty heavy...

I will be happy to post drawings of the design / form for input and to share....

Thanks

A bow that doesn't stack easily will have long recurves at the end of the limbs. A bow will start to stack when the recurves straighten out and the rest of the load is transferred directlyto the limbs. The longer the recurves, the longer the draw length before it stacks.

Also, what influences the stacking of a bow,is design as well as tiller. A bow should be designed to where to weight gradually goes up, instead of shooting up drasticly. Agree with wingbone, that the longer the length of the bow the less likely to stack.

Besides bow length to draw length I'd also materials used.

But, I'd really have to say that the design of the bow also has a lot to do with it. For instance, I have a 68" Brack (60#'s at 29") that is very smooth to my 29" draw. But I also have a Bob Lee 60" that is made 61#'s @ 27". The Lee is extremely smooth and does not stack at all. I have a 60" Bear that is 45#'s at 28" that stacks like crazy on me.

Usually a bow will stack past the tillered lenght. Also, the lenght of the limbs and or amount of reflex or recurve put into it. Length of limbs is the biggest. This is why we pike the limbs to get more draw weight, when needed. When I make a bow that is intended for a 26" draw lenght, I tiller it to the intended weight at that draw, and if the limbs are fairly short, it will start stacking morepast that draw lenght.

What do you mean by 'PIKE' the limbs ?

My design has a lot of reflex it it- almost borderline a recurve....but I think I made it too short for the 'design' if that makes sense...
It has a limb thickness of .28 total, with a 55# draw weight but Im now doing it with a .24" thickness going for 40-45 BUT making it 3" longer....

Pikeing the limbs is when you end up with a bow lighter than you wanted, so you cut off an inch or so from both limbs to cause it to stack more, there for increasing the draw weight.

How much in LBs does 'piking' a r/d longbow typically add ??

Depends on the materials. A general rule, you can get about 5-10 pounds with every inch of reflex. Deflex does the opposite. As far as pikeing. Ive noticed I can get about the same as reflexing depending on the wood. About 5-10 lbs per inch.