Well...I've got another one to start. I've really been wanting to do an elb and have decided to try some hackberry cut a few months ago. Its the batch that ended up having a natural camo pattern appear. Anyway I was wondering if hackberry will take the weight of a heavier warbow in the ELB style? I've read some posts that say since its a lighter wood I probably could not hit the 5/8 diminsions but I really do not care a ton about that. Mostly I'd like to end up with a long bow somewhere in the 100 lb range if its possible. The stave I've got to work with is 77 inches long right now, so I imagine it should be reduced a little to make it more efficient but I have no idea what it has to be to reach the weight I'd like to get, if it can even get there. I have heard of some people getting heavy bows from ERC so I am thinking surely it could be done out of hackberry. The good news is if this does not work out I've got my american hornbeam shorty, an ERC a in the 60 inch range, another hackberry I plan on recurving and a dogwood stave thats itching to be made into something. Oh yeah, there's a redbud sitting in the shop too, I just started debarking...hopefully I can get something out of it, got some pretty wood in it. Anyway I digress. Here is the stave for the longbow, let me know what you all think is possible with it and what I should do with it. Thanks!
Kip