Author Topic: Board bow... I screwed up, so I need opinions on my options  (Read 1036 times)

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Offline manysteps

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Board bow... I screwed up, so I need opinions on my options
« on: March 14, 2018, 12:54:55 am »
Not my first rodeo roughing out a board bow stave, but I royally screwed up this time and cut the dang thing crooked...

I'll take the blame for that, but here's what I see as options...

The board is hickory, 1 1/4" wide at the widest point (I know, it's thin, but read on)

69" long currently.

I could steam it to bring the limb that's out of alignment into the fold and leave it at 69"...

Option 2, I could cut 6 1/2" off of each end leaving me with a 57" bow with 10" of handle.

Option 3, I could cut 8 1/2" off one limb, 4 1/2" off the other, and take away 2" from the handle... still the same length bow, but more working limb that way.

I would LIKE to see this bow tiller out to 30 to 35lbs... would be really cool if it drew to 28", but that might be too short for that long of a draw.

(By the way, if there's a resource that can tell me suggested draw lengths compared to bow lengths, that'd be really useful for situations like this)

What do you think of my options, what other ideas do you have, and most important... what would you do?


Offline manysteps

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Re: Board bow... I screwed up, so I need opinions on my options
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2018, 12:58:10 am »
More info:

I've roughed out this idea by starting to taper the sides of the limbs 14" from center (2" longer than my normal 12" start)... tapered to 1/2" at the tip.

Offline pnwarcher

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Re: Board bow... I screwed up, so I need opinions on my options
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2018, 02:13:16 am »
Got any pics?
A good rule of thumb for bow length vs draw length is to make your working limb length the same as your draw. So if you want a 28" draw, you should shoot for 28" working limbs, or 56" total bending wood, plus whatever you need for stiff handle or stiff tips. If you make it bend through the handle you might hit your targets with the short option, but even then it wouldn't be easy. Steaming may be a better bet, depending on the degree of correction you need to do.