I have just ordered a Firefly three piece T/D L/B from Jim.

We have just been going thru the usual chat to sort out exactly what I want,  Apparantly he can cut my riser to centre or 3/16 past centre - he said it is up to me.

I have never really taken any notice of the bows I have had in the past.  I think most would have been cut to centre.  Can somebody offer some opinions on what would be the best for me to order.  Pros and cons

Cheers - Sutto

If the bowyer says it is safe no reason not to cut a little past center.It will make tuning easier.If I remember correctly some orgs reguire a competition longbow to be 1/8 from center but I think the rules allow you to build it out with leather or such to specs.

The further past center you are cut the stiffer arrow you will need but you have the option to build the side plate out.I like a cut in half piece of peep tubing under velcro for a sort of  static plunger effect.

My expierience is a bow cut past center is harder to tune contrary to what I hear.  I have a long draw and want to leave my arrows no shorter than 31.5".  It means your arrows are gonna have to be stiffer to get good flight with a cut past center.  Of courst you can build out the side plate.

thanks guys - anybody else?

My new bow is 1/8 past center. You can definitely use a stiffer arrow that you otherwise would. But it tuned real nice and I am pretty new to this and I was able to get it right.

I cut wooden bows past center.:)I would let him cut it as deep as he can safely do it.Pretty easy to build it back out if I ever needed to. jmo

Suttoman...

see this. This bow was made 3/16 cut past center. It's Jims first bow made cut like this and she is a sweety.

 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=056937

If your going to shoot a longbow thats center or past center cut your shooting a Recurve with Longbow limbs why not just buy the recurve?

My Black Widow, which is the best shooting bow I have, is cut 3/16 past center.  One thing I noticed, and it has been mentioned here, is that I need to use a stiffer than normal arrow.  Not a big deal to me as a stiffer aluminum arrow is usually a heavier arrow.  Good deal for me, and you could always build the side plate out if needed...Mike

Thanks guys - this is good stuff.

Marshrat - I owned about four recurves when I first got into trad a few years ago.  I gave them up for longbows - not sure why but much prefer shooting my longbows.  Would not go back to recurves.  Maybe its the noise thing, or the aesthetics or something.  Thanks for the suggestion though.

Sutto

I don't know....my personal choice would be NOT to have it cut past center but then I may be the odd duck here.  Just seems more traditional in a longbow to be cut short of center or just to it.

Cutting past center would seem to make the bow more flexible on arrow choice.  Asbell says that arrow selection on longbows is critical for just that reason.  Recurves are somewhat easier to shoot and tune/select arrows for because they are generally cut past center.  The only thing I would worry about is strength, since longbows don't have near as much riser mass as recurves do.  If the bowyer says it's ok, I don't see any reason not to go a tad past center shot.  Good luck with your choice.  Paul.

Sutto,

If it's a longbow and you intend to shoot in competition, it will not be accepted if cut past center, but you could build it out as mentioned above.  If you don't plan on any serious competition, I'd probably go for it.