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Correct grain orientation on a 3 laminations English Longbow? - D Profile

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Gary Mac:
Hi Folks
I'm having a brainfart on which is the correct grain orientation for a 3 laminations English Lonbow - D Profile.
I fired up Photoshop and sketched every possible configuration, then numbered then 1, 2, 3, 4.

What should be the correct one?

Et_tu_brute:
There isn't really a "correct" one as such, any of those would be fine. The main thing you have to be careful of is the backing, flat sawn (as in 2 & 3) is fine if the grain is near perfect, ie. you have a single growth ring running the full length of the bow, but if that's not the case you're safer with bias grain or quartersawn (1 & 4), but you still need to have a minimal amount of run-off. In essence the grain orientation of the core and belly is not something you need to worry about a great deal.

Gary Mac:
Thanks for the reply and explanation.

I have to ask . . . . In a perfect world with perfect grain, and you was forced to the wall,
which one of the 4 configurations would you favour?

Et_tu_brute:
I think personally, other may have differing opinions, my ideal would be number 3 if (and it's a big if) the backing was a solid single growth ring all the way along its length - if that wasn't the case then my preference would be for number 1 :) A single growth ring is inherently stronger than edge grain when perfect and pristine but if it's violated it is far more likely to lift.

adb:
For me, it would be 1 or 4. This bow, a tri-lam with ash, purpleheart, and osage, was glued up with a config like image 4.

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