Let's Talk ILF

[RickBarbee]

Well, I am going to have to move the grip up on the Mathews riser for this to work. Not sure if that is doable, but I'm studying it to see what I can do.

I put the new limbs on the Martin riser.
These limbs are TradTech medium length, carbon woods with wood grain veneers, and are marked 60+ for draw weight at 28"

Here are the current set up specs, and performance results:

Maxed out, the draw weight is exactly 60# at 29". I Draw it to 29".
These limbs just start to stack at my draw length. Not at all bad, and is a perfect draw check. I know I'm at my draw every shot.

Tiller is set at zero.

Nock point is 1/16" above square, and I am shooting 3 under

Brace height seems to work best at 8.5"

Arrows are 7595 GT Trads at 615gr overall weight. That makes them 10.25gpp for the 60# draw weight.

They are the same arrows I shoot off of the 68# BW PMA, but they are just a tad under spine for this ILF rig.

I moved the center shot out a bit to compensate for the weak spine shafts. It holds the arrow at about 1/8" outside center at center of shaft. I get real good arrow flight at that setting, even with the vanes off the shelf.

My point on is between 35 & 40 yards. About 37 I think.

50 shot average - well lets just say it's between 185 & 185.5 fps, because I never got a reading below 185, and never got one above 185.5. Talk about consistency. I think it has to do with the built in draw check/stack.

Not only is the performance acceptable, but it is just flat smooth to shoot, and very easy to be real accurate with.

Yep, I'm Happy

Rick

[RickBarbee]

I had a chance last Sunday to finish up the Martin ILF, get a custom built string twisted up for it, and nail down the tuning with some broadhead shooting.

She shoots so darn good, the Mathews warf will probably be shelved at least for a while.
This bow is sweet, and very easy to shoot.
She'll be what I use now, and likely for a very long time to come.

Finished product specs:

Riser - Martin Lynx customized for ILF limbs

Limbs - Tradtech Carbon Wood, medium length marked 60+ @ 28"

66" in length

60# @ 29"

String - Barbee 9 strand ultracam. Colors - DarkBrown/Black/Bronze, with some turkey feather looking yarn silencers.

196fps

10.25gpp 615gr arrow









Rick

[eyedoc]

Sweet setup Rick! I am really wanting a metal riser recurve; thinking of getting a TT Titan soon. Can any old compound riser be converted to an ILF setup? I have an old Hoyt Fastflite compound from around 1992.

[RickBarbee]

Thanks Doc.

I'm no guru with this ILF stuff.

I do know that you don't want a riser longer than 25" (I think 19" is what most folks like), and you want your limb pad angle to be less than 20 degrees (from 15 - 17 is optimal). This riser was not a good candidate, and took a lot of work to get it where it would work. Some due to it's length, but mainly because of the limb pad angle.

I winged it with this one, and had some good help, so I got lucky, and came out of it with a great shooting bow.

I have an old friend (more like a Dad to me) who just warfed an old hoyt compound riser, and it turned out fantastic. I don't know what hoyt it was, but it had rocker style limb pockets, so he was able to set the angle just perfect for the preload on the limbs. He put a set of Martin Firecat limbs on it, and double bolted them.

Todd Pool (huntingpool on here) is the guru for ILF around here, and he helped me out tremendously with this project. He'd be the guy to ask.

Rick

P.S.

Vantage Point Archery (same as the broadhead company) is producing a metal ILF riser that should be pretty available soon. From what I know it is a really nice riser, and going to be very affordable. VPA don't make junk anything. If I were going to just buy an ILF bow, I would probably get one of the VAP risers, and put a set of good TT limbs on it.

P.S, P.S.

Any riser you select for a warf project, try to make sure the handle/throat of grip is close to center. No more than 1/2" or so below center line.
This Mathews riser I am working on is going to turn out great, but I am going to have to raise the grip about 1.5" to get the bow to balance & tiller within acceptable tolerances.

[eyedoc]

Thanks for the info. I was just reading about the VPA riser on tradgang earlier today. waiting to see pictures of it.

[Loreva13]

Nicely done!

[Green]

Very interesting thread.....and really nice work Rick.

[SHORTY]

Hoyt Build a bow

Here are some pictures of the Hoyt Rick was talking about, and a few shots at dark had to use the flash to take the pictures. 25 yards Right at dark. not to bad for an old man.

[x86ricer]

Do you make and sell the adapter plates?

Mr. RickBarbee, that is absolutely amazing. I have a Martin Lynx compound that I would like to convert to a Recurve bow. While I was going to try to fit some limbs from a Samick Sage or a Martin Jaguar to the Lynx riser, you sir have convinced me to consider the ILF route. Don't suppose you make, or know anyone who produces adapter plates like yours for sale? If not, do you have any drawings you would mind sharing?

[Selfbowman]

Hi Rick,

Not sure this is where you want to go with your thread, but I have a question about ILF.

I shoot barebow and in my age group 70 meters. I am using a 35# Quinn TQ Comet traditional takedown. It is a great bow for the price ($160 new).

But, for some reason I can no longer shoot one finger over, I keep lifting the arrow off the rest. Three under will not give me the height at that distance. I am a spot shooter so my spot is in the sky.

Would going to an ILF (Olympic Recurve) bow give me enough speed to lower my spot enough to be on target? I would buy one just to try except we are talking a difference between $160 and $1,600. Also, I need to drop down to a 30# bow.



Thanks, Don

Don call me I'll give you a # for a guy that can help you maybe. He builds lots of risers designed for low poundage bows . They are $500.