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First bow build - white birch

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Jlynch4:
Latest progress. Decided to cut down the bow to solve the cracks. It's now 62" vice 65".

Now looking at redrawing out my design and retapering the width of my risers to this new length.

On a shorter bow, think I should leave the tips wider or should I stick with the 1/2 inch tips?

Other work I did was fix the handle shape. I'm now going to start floor tillering.

Mountain Man1:
I've never tried white birch but my first was made from yellow birch. it seemed decent but came in under weight and flabby cast. I hear heat treating the belly works well on birch so that might be worth looking in to if she survives tillering. As for backing it's a bit of extra work that may not be required if all else goes well, but certainly won't hurt and provides some cheap insurance. looking forward to seeing some more progress on your build, it looks like a beautiful piece of wood and some nice work done on it thus far. Best of luck and don't forget... if it breaks you can always make another.

bassman:
Leave the tips at 3/4 wide. Put it on a form now  with about 4 inches of reflex ,and heat treat the belly.It will take a lot of set if you don,t. Keep heating the belly as you tiller to finish draw weight. If you have to turn the tips up a bit. Belly heat treat will be key to making a good shooter, and taking minimum set.

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