Main Discussion Area > Bows
Limb Thickness - Rules of Thumb
Eric Krewson:
I went out to the shop and got the last bow I made about a year ago to show the limb profile on the bows I make starting just outside the fade. I don't know if anyone uses the same limb profile I use, I have used this design for 26 years with good success, ease of tillering and low set bows. I picked up this profile from the Dean Torgus book "Hunting the Osage Bow" his facet tillering didn't work for me so I altered my limb profile to suit my tillering process better. This is my osage bow profile, with hickory I have wider, flatter limbs with less arc until I get a foot from the tip and then make the transition to round tips.
Hopefully these will be in order; the belly profile at the fade, 7" out and mid-limb. The squared side profile lines stay the same, the arc is cut from the sidelines across the belly to the sideline the opposite side
Eric Krewson:
A foot from the tip, getting more rounded, 6" from the tip with more of an arc and the rounded belly at the tip.
Burnsie:
Thanks Eric - I think my little brain has all the pieces put together.
The top of the crown on the belly stays at a 1/2" thickness the entire length of the bow - round over sides down to your side profile line - got it.
Jim Davis:
Osage will survive a lot of different designs. Even the ELB, for which is not ideal.
I always keep in mind that wood is generally 3 to 4 times as strong in tension as compression. That's why a crowned back is strong enough to balance the belly's compression strength.
Crowning the belly puts the most compression strain on the highest part of the crown. The lower parts of the belly crown don't start to resist compression until the high part has already yielded to some extent.
But, as I said, Osage can live with less than perfect conditions.
Eric Krewson:
Stiil no, the limb never goes below a thickness of 1/2", it may be thicker closer to the fade because of the arc on the belly.
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