^^^^^ Yep. Reflex and Deflex and Straight Risers, all have advantages and disadvantages. Also applies to compounds BTW.The benefit is that the grip, or the pivot point of the bow is forward of the limbs. This makes for a more stable bow with a slight decrease in speed.
Another way to visualize it is if you hold the bow out flat and try to rotate it or spin it with your wrist, the harder he bow is to rotate the more forgiving it is. A straight bow like a hill style longbow is easier to rotate and therefore less forgiving.
The benefit is that the grip, or the pivot point of the bow is forward of the limbs. This makes for a more stable/forgiving bow with a slight decrease in speed.
Another way to visualize it is if you hold the bow out flat and try to rotate it or spin it with your wrist, the harder he bow is to rotate the more forgiving it is. A straight bow like a hill style longbow is easier to rotate and therefore less forgiving.
Interesting, I'm curious. Has your father built any bows with that design? The few that you showed during the last meet up look like the more typical takedowns. This sound like a great style for beginners who would be ok with trading speed for forgiveness. Or is that something that a beginner would not be able to tell? That these fine details is something you will learn and notice with experiences?
On another note! Nice bow in the picture! I like how the limbs and riser flow together, how did he do that? Did he carved the whole bow and then turn it into a takedown?
Cocobolo is legitI don't have a lot of experience with bows with belly mounted limbs but, a lot of people love their Black Widows. For me personally, I have always wanted one because I want a bow as forgiving as possible. I think the limiting factor with a beginner shooting one of these bows is all of the bows I know of with this design are high end custom bows and are a lot of coin to try something new.
Funny you should ask about my Dad though. I've been trying to get him to build a riser with belly mounted limbs for a while. I thought I had him convinced but, he recently decided to tweak his current riser design to move the grip forward 1" instead. Below is a picture he just sent me this week. The bow on the right is his current riser design. The bow on the left is a pine 2x4 he carved as a sample with an additional 1" of deflex. The bow string in front of each one represents a straight line between the pivot point of the limbs and highlights the difference in the grip. He's going to try this design before making the bigger change of reversing the limbs.
View attachment 60929
The pic below is the one I sent him shortly after he sent me the pic above to show him the wood combination I want with his new riser design.
View attachment 60930
I'll work on getting him to build a belly mounted riser for next years bow