how much wood do you bend on a 66in bow?

[yazoo]

just wandering,, I have been noticing a lot of bow that have extra string follow,,that I think could be prevented,, by better useing the wood you have,,  my number for a 66in bow  is 53in of bendable wood,, 3 1/2 stiff on each tip,,,4in handle,, 1in fade ,,,and I have also pushed my string knocks closer to the tips,,I have been seeing a lot of bows with the string knocks 1 to 1 1/2 in down from tips,,to me thats wasting wood,,  I see some 66 in bows with only 46 or 47 in of bending wood,,and much more string follow,, what cha think?

[Badger]

   Very good topic Yazoo, the more bending wood you have the less width and mass you need in a bow. A bendy handle arc of the circle english style longbow has potentialy the least mass of any bow because it has the most amount of bending wood. When we decide to leave it stiff out of the fades for a few inches we are really crowding the tiller in a bow, the closer a limb bends to the fades the more draw length you get out of those few inches. Bending in the outer limbs is not nearly as dramatic in how it affects the overall width but still affects it. Many of the styles we use have a legitamate reason for not using so much bending limb but they need to make up for it by making the limb wider and thinner. If you ever get a chance study one of the Mark St louis bows. He deflexes them through the handle and then gets them working right into the fade. He might reflex a bow as much as 6" or so but they appear to be hardly working at full draw. Almost a perfect design in my eyes. Bows that have full working limbs will have less set and strain on the limbs when finished but must be properly tillered to avoid handshock and vibration loosing energy. Short working areas tend to be more efficient but don't have to be if the longer working limbs are tillered to match their front view profiles. Steve

[sailordad]

i say as much as possible
mike your ratio is about as good as it gets
i have a 66" hick thats all but finished that has only 1" of set on the upper limb,less on the lower
i know exactly why and where on the bow
i had a knot show up on the side of the limb after the profile was cut and had to leave it a little thicker to be safe
i left the other limb look the same just for asthetic reasons
i could have gotten clsoe to 0" of set on that if it wouldnt have been for that knot

[Del the cat]

Yup I'm with you, I like to see all the bow working...if it's not working what's it doing there?
I'm currently building a little experimental Ash backed Cherry bow...the piece of cherry was only 50" long, so that's how long the bow is, I've made the handle as short as possible.
Dunno how far I dare draw it....
I'll post some pics soon..unless it goes bang!
Del

[George Tsoukalas]

I think that's a beginner's thing. Whip tillered bows seem to be common for the first few bows. I like the bending to start at the end of the fades. I like the last 3 or so inches not bending and typically like 1.5 in fades with a 4-5 inch handle. In draw 26 in. Sometimes I tiller the bow to bend through the handle and fades on staves around 62 in. Jawge