Trad Gang
Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: recurvericky on January 20, 2018, 01:32:00 PM
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I am planning to build another deflex/reflex longbow. In the past I have used the following stack.
Back to belly
Glass
Parallel
Taper bamboo .003
Riser
Parallel bamboo
Parallel
Glass
What are the pro’s and con’s of more or less laminations in a bow? Also, I see that some people use a.002 taper one side and a .001 on the other to get a .003 total taper. Why is this?
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Hi Ricky,
To me more lams means more quality, look at good plywood compared to CDX
Less chance of a weakness in one lam causing more stress on the other(s)
That said, there are a lot of recurves out there with 2 lams in them. But the glass percentage is usually more in them.
The taper I don't think matters much except the total amount.
JMO- your mileage may vary.. :)
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Thanks Kenny
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All my Bear recurves have 2 lams.
The D/R bows I have made all have 3. Two parallel and 1 taper.
I doubt you will see much difference between 3 or 4 lams with the same stack thickness and taper. But I am just guessing.
Experiment a little and build one with 3 lams rather than your normal 4. See if there is a difference in performance.
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Thanks Kenny
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I build my r/d with 5 lams
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As long as the lams are thin enough to conform to your form well it doesn't matter.
This is the reason for one 0.001 and one 0.002 lam compared to a single 0.003 - much more flexible.
More lams a fraction more glue in the limb, cured glue is generally around 1.3s.g. eg. its heavy stuff and minimising it is a good idea....but then again a few microns thickness of cured glue doesn't weigh much!
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More thinner lams will bend around the form easier therefore less spring back off the form will= a bit peppier limb.