Hey guys. Have been on the phone with Mike at the Rosewood Shop this morning. Got some more material coming. And he's sending some carbon for the bow back too. Any comments on using the stuff they sell? I'm excited to see if I have the nerve to glue it up lol.

What's your intended goal of using the carbon?

Well I don't have any huge reasons. I'm just curious. I kinda like the look depending on the rest of the bow materials selected. Also I have a potential customer that asked about it. I've built bows for 6 years now and have never tried it and I'm building myself a new bow for this next season and decided I'd like to see for myself why some guys don't really like the idea and at the same time most of the big names use it out there. Have you used it?

I don't know this Carbon.
Layup, thickness and fibertype are pretty Essential for the characteristics of a Laminate.
No manufactourer will tell you exactly....

I stopped using Glass several years ago, because i build bows, that would Not Work with Glass.
And i was sick of the inconsistency of the BP Glass.



Carbon can be used to get more drawweight with the Same Core or rather getting the Same drawweight with a thinner Core.
Thats done with UD Carbon.

Or you can use it for torsional stability.
So you can build Designs, that won't Work with UD Glass or make a Limb narrower without loosing stability.
Thats done with 45/45 Carbon.

Simply building the Same Bow with Carbon instead of Glass will Not make it substancialy faster, but can Help with Handschock, because the Limbs will be a bit Lighter.

B-JS pretty much summed it up for what it can do for you. The type you use, and thickness depends on your limb shape and intended purpose.

I used a lot of different carbon years ago on different limb designs for both performance and stability depending on design. Unlike B-JS I got away from using it after having longevity issues, and inconsistency in obtaining target draw weights. Every time you order more carbon, its strength properties can vary a lot.

You will get your best results using in on the back of the limb only. Using it in the core is pretty much a waste. It can improve torsional stability a bit, but that's it.
I wouldn't recommend using carbon on the belly side your bows. It typically overpowers  the lam it's glued to and shears the bond resulting in failure.


Keep in mind that it isn't as durable as glass, and will not take much abuse. Where a glass limb getting banged on a rock May splinter a bit. It can be sanded and repaired in many cases. A carbon limb just blows up.   

Good luck playing with it.

Good to know about the lack of durability compared to glass. I like a bomb proof bow but at the same time I dont treat my bows just terrible lol.

Any tips and tricks for working with carbon would be cool to hear. Mike from Rosewood did tell me that you cant flat sand this stuff or it will mess up the finish. Which if its on the bow back not a big deal.

You can lightly sand the face of the carbon wit( 220 or 320 prior to squirting your finish, and I highly recommend doing that too. But running it through a drum sander, even on the back side that gets glued down is dicey.

Most of the carbon we purchase is a pre-preg lay up. Meaning there are multiple layers  laid up. Typically these layers are about .005 thick. Sometimes a bit more. You can have custom lay ups done with different combinations of 45/45 bias weave, or a twill weave, along with unidirectional carbon to increase performance. But sanding these too much can seriously affect the structural integrity. 

With that being said, I do rough up the side im gluing down with 80 grit paper by hand to help give it some tooth for the bond, and clean it really well with acetone before lay up. And I use EA 40 .

What type of carbon did you buy?  And what limb design are you planning on using it on?

Carbon weave is what the web page says. the bows I'm making now is a one piece fairly aggressive R/D. 21" riser and finished out at somewhere around 60"