Juniper stave pin knot/edge knot

[Bearded.Jake]

hello all, 

I am looking for some advice on this juniper stave.  Its about 59" long, limbs 2" wide until the last 8", and about 1/2" thick with a fairly flat belly already and decrowned back. 

The main issue is the larger knot on the edge running into the belly. There is not much room for tillering before the knot is exposed fully and may already be too much of a weak point.. im not sure.  Will I need to just make a narrower bow? It would have to be as much as 1/2" narrower to take out the knot in question.  unfortunately Iv already narrowed the handle somewhat, so taking one side off the limbs will make for an asymmetrical look.

The limbs also have much more bend already than I expected at this thickness.  So I'm worried narrowing will make the bow way lighter than Im hoping in the end. Id like at least 40lbs but ideally more. The plan was to hopefully put sinew on it.

I guess Im wondering what some of you might do with this stave.

Thanks for any help!

[Hamish]

I would leave the width as is. I would then drill out the knot carefully, starting with a narrow drill bit. Then increase the diameter of the drill bit until the knot is fully removed. Glue in a small hand carved dowel from a scrap of heartwood. Hard to tell from the photos if you have already done that or not?

I would still treat it as a weak spot, and leave a small swelling around that area as I continued to tiller.

Personally never made a bow from juniper, but from what I have heard the ones that last are always backed with something else like rawhide, sinew, or even hickory.