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New bow in the works

If you raise or lower the brace, shootability and quietness is all that really matters. You get maybe 4fps for an inch lower, not a big deal. Any time you go too low on brace youll find erratic arrow consistency and begin to think you’re having a bad day. I don’t under stand why people push the lower limit.
 
The limbs for both of these bows will have a parallel and tapered lamination of Walnut. He's made limbs with cores of osage, bamboo, maple, and others. He's also used carbon a few times. The last two bows he made for me had carbon with Bocote veneers. A set of limbs he recently made from walnut outshot my carbon/bocote limbs. which is why I kept it simple and went with walnut on this bow.

So do you think there is a correlation between different type of veneer and speed? I understand core will affect bow a bow shoot, but does veneer? I would love to get a custom bow with the type of veneers that look good, but I'm a fan of getting the most efficient design too.

Wait, just to be clear, is it full one piece walnut limbs or walnut veneers?
 
So do you think there is a correlation between different type of veneer and speed? I understand core will affect bow a bow shoot, but does veneer? I would love to get a custom bow with the type of veneers that look good, but I'm a fan of getting the most efficient design too.

Wait, just to be clear, is it full one piece walnut limbs or walnut veneers?

These particular limbs only have two layers of wood, one is a parallel lamination and one is a tapered lamination. There isn't a "core" in the typical sense. I don't think that type of construction is uncommon, I know Fedora archery used to use two tapers with no core in between. To answer your question, yes I would think different veneers would have some effect even when using the same core but, it's probably negligible. I was listening to a podcast with black widow and they said that adding wood veneers over their carbon limbs would reduce the benefits of the carbon.

Personally, I'd rather have a beautiful bow even if it shoots a few feet per second slower.
 
In a wood/glass bow veneers are not going to impact the shooting of the bow pretty much period, just not enough material there to influence anything. The thickness of the glass and the choice of wood for the laminations are the drivers excluding limb profile. Veneer is just there to make it pretty.
 
Interesting! Learning something new every time I ask questions. I feel like we're moving into selfbow territories. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but one of the benefit of laminated bow is that they do not straighten out over time like selfbow. Clay Hayes talks about how his bows would change shape depending on how often it is use and how old. Some of you guys been telling me they have bows that been hung strung for 30 years and are fine.

So from what I am gathering. You CAN use most wood as laminate/core. But its the glass that is keeping the shape? But overtime, bowyers came to the consensus that maple and bamboo makes the best core? or most cost efficient?
 
Glass helps keep the shape along with other factors. It is possible for a bow to lose poundage over time and some would argue that this occurred when you leave a bow strung. The argument to leave a glass bow strung comes down to this for me. You are going to twist a limb on a bow or really mess it up, it will likely happen when stringing the bow. I have had all sorts of string slips and all that.

I think maple and bamboo are just two good options. Maple is a good wood and is cheap. Bamboo very springy. As you and I have discussed I like red elm also. I have a bow with that in the cores and it is uncommonly fast.
 
I'm not following. What makes you say the statement above? Just to be clear the bow you asked about above has two wood laminations along with glass.
I recently been educated on the fact that veneer and laminate does not mean the same thing. So I was confusion myself or was assuming something when I read about bows. So when you say laminated, I assumed you meant veneer, that why when you talk about how the walnut bow he made was faster than the carbon, I got confused because in my mind it was veneer, so 'wait, so veneer affect limbs quality?'

So when I referred to selfbow, I was thinking that isn't selfbow basically one piece of wood? So your dad made limbs from walnut only? etc.
 
I recently been educated on the fact that veneer and laminate does not mean the same thing. So I was confusion myself or was assuming something when I read about bows. So when you say laminated, I assumed you meant veneer, that why when you talk about how the walnut bow he made was faster than the carbon, I got confused because in my mind it was veneer, so 'wait, so veneer affect limbs quality?'

So when I referred to selfbow, I was thinking that isn't selfbow basically one piece of wood? So your dad made limbs from walnut only? etc.
Not exactly. One piece of wood can mean different things. Self bows are typically made with hand tools from a stave or section of log. The bark was still on the log that this one came from. Literally came from a section of log. The riser and limbs are the same piece of wood. There is no glue or joints and this was made with a draw knife and rasp only.
 

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I recently been educated on the fact that veneer and laminate does not mean the same thing. So I was confusion myself or was assuming something when I read about bows. So when you say laminated, I assumed you meant veneer, that why when you talk about how the walnut bow he made was faster than the carbon, I got confused because in my mind it was veneer, so 'wait, so veneer affect limbs quality?'

So when I referred to selfbow, I was thinking that isn't selfbow basically one piece of wood? So your dad made limbs from walnut only? etc.

Got ya. Like @Petrichor said above a self bow is one peice of wood. In my bow above the walnut is the wood "core" but there is no reason to add veneers because that was the wood I wanted to show. I see how my first explanation was confusing.
 
Here is how that self bow started. Should totally show the difference.
 

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Got ya. Like @Petrichor said above a self bow is one peice of wood. In my bow above the walnut is the wood "core" but there is no reason to add veneers because that was the wood I wanted to show. I see how my first explanation was confusing.

Another question. Did your dad treat or process the wood in anyway? I watched a lot of bow making videos. One of the thing everyone mention is using good wood, but Big Jim actually talked about the process of drying the wood and aging it?

Just for example, can I just order a piece of walnut and start working on it or do I need to to something to it first?
 
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