Hickory bow length?

[bearbowman]

I have received two hickory staves from rudderbows archery. This will be my first attempt at making a bow.

If my first one goes well, I'd like to make the second one shorter. I don't want to back the bow.

In your experience, how short could i go? the staves are approx. 70".

I was hoping to get down to about 60", would this be a problem.

[George Tsoukalas]

You could go as short as a foot long bow if you had a draw length of 4 inches. LOL. You didn't mention what your draw length was. Jawge

[bearbowman]

duh, sorry about that. it's 27"

[Kegan]

I prefer my bows at least 66" long, at least for selfbows. I've made a couple short hickory bows (working recurves) that were 56" long, Jay Massey style. Hickory isn't as elastic as Osage and what not, and like other white woods is best (as a selfbow) when it's longer.

If you have your heart set on a 60" hickory, a deflexed working recurve would probabaly be your best bet.

[George Tsoukalas]

That's ok. I was a pre nap, feeble attempt at humor. LOL. I just finished a 60 in ntn hickory bow that bends through the handle. It can be done but I'd leave pushing the limits for later on after a few bows. 66 in ntn with an 8 inch non bending handle should work, There are buildalongs on my site. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[Hickoryswitch]

I've went to 62" inches (reflex/deflex) for 26" draw. My first few were 64" and they are about the short limit I think for a straight bows with stiff handles at that draw length.

[benjamin]

Double the draw plus 10 to 20%. I draw 25''.....25+25=50''+5'' (10% of 50 is 5)= 55''. 20% would be 60''. Those are my benchmarks for bend through the handle and stiff handles respectively. Longer is much harder to break, shorter is much more fun in my oppinion. Find your own happy medium.