Main Discussion Area > Bows
Limb Thickness - Rules of Thumb
Eric Krewson:
OOPS! I said I used my thumbnail as a guide, I went out to the shop to take a picture to illustrate what I was suggesting and found I that use the fingernail on my middle finger as a guide for my pencil.
Pappy:
I Do like Eric but that little jig Jim showed is cool, may get or make me one of them. :) learn something or see something new every day. :)
Pappy
Zugul:
I use a compass to do the same thing by putting the pointy end on the very edge of the back of the stave and using the other end to scribe a line on the side, it works well and you don't have to make a jig for it
Jim Davis:
Better to gauge from the center of a crowned back.
Burnsie:
--- Quote from: Eric Krewson on March 20, 2025, 10:25:53 am ---Yuo didn't say how wide your bow is going to be.
I make my osage bows 1 1/4" or 1 3/8" wide. I use the same method on hickory bow blanks that are wider.
I make a 1/2" mark at the end of the fade and and drop the measurement 1/16" every 6" until I get to 1/4". I hold the 1/4" measurement to the tip of the bow. I start removing wood to my line but leave the belly rounded, I never go lower than a 1/2" thickness at the tip even though I have a 1/4" mark on the side. I drop the width to as low as 3/8" at the tip but the limb tip is 1/2" thick.
I tiller the rounded belly and reduce the oval shape to almost flat on my finished bow as I reduce poundage, the last 6" of the limb will remain somewhat rounded on the belly.
Others may make a wider, flatter limb bow profile, in which case the starting measurement will be less.
--- End quote ---
Thanks Eric - this information helps a lot.
Below is the layout of my handle and fade section - I assume when you refer to the 1/2" measurement starting at the end of the fades, you are referring to the lines on the outside ends of my layout - both are 4' from the center line of the handle.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version