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Stress and performance

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Kidder:
Is there any correlation between design stress and performance? In other words, all else being equal, will a higher stressed design bow result in greater performance? One example of what I’m thinking is a 50# 66 inch bow versus the same 50# bow but only 60 inches overall. Assuming that is the case, will the performance degrade over time where the performance of the low stress design overcomes that of the high stress design after extended usage? Thanks for entertaining my wandering curiosity.

bownarra:
Every piece of wood has its own set of properties. How elastic is it? How able to resist compression? How close are its resistances to stretching and compressing? Plus others!
Your job as a bowyer is to 'listen' to the wood and hear what it is telling you.
The more skilled/experienced the bowyer the closer he can get to optimal strain on the wood.
One reason I always suggest people should trace the outline of the back before ever bending the stave - during tillering you can placed the bow back against the original outline and see where/how the set is appearing.
Also get your head around 'tiller logic' as soon as possible....once you understand how width taper is married to thickness taper and that thickness taper determines 'tiller' you can make any bow in any design and KNOW how it should bend to optimally strain the wood. 

BowEd:
If you give wood enough width to handle the strain in the areas it needs it.It holds up over time.There is no certain script that fits all bows and designs.All things are not equal then.All woods are not the same either in density/shapes of backs/elasticity and the list goes on.Evaluating the wood and knowing it before design and tillering is started.Width's and thickness's are different then too.If the design is going to be more stressed you need more wood to handle it.
The cleaner the wood the more stressed design it can handle.Even then it's a fine slow line to walk and not always accomplished.
To me that's the beauty of self bows or sinewed bows for that matter.
It's one of the reasons I think why these type bows will out shoot FG bows as most all those are scripted.There are FG bow makers out there though that do not conform to the script,but they have their limits too.
Even the highly stressed bows will shoot quiet as a mouse with or without silencers [I like the looks of them] if they are tillered correctly/settled in and take years and years of shooting/hunting seasons and still shoot with the same performance.

superdav95:
Well said mike, Ed.  Sometimes our own thoughts and ideas or ambitions get in the way of listening to the wood.   

RyanY:
I think there’s likely a sweet spot for performance. Too stressed will obviously result in set and worse performance. Understressed May mean more mass or wind resistance in the limbs. I think there’s still a question of mass given Badger’s experience with wide limbed bows that we’re not necessarily heavier than narrow limbed counterparts.

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