What's best placement for arrow rest on longbow?

[dogwood3]

I'm preparing to finish layout and tillering of my 6' osage longbow.  I was planning place the 4" handle right in the middle of the bow, so that my arrow rest would be 2" above center.  The old layout for a longbow was 1 1/4" above center. Does it make any difference?

John (Dogwood)

[aaron]

you'll get many different answers from different folks. I believe the placement of the arrow rest depends on where and how you grip a bow and how the handle is shaped.
 how do you grip the bow?. personally i grip loosely and use mostly the part of my palm near my thumb(the heel of my hand barely touching the handle), while others use more of the whole palm. I believe most peolpe try to layout a handle so that the hand pressure is near the center of the bow, so for me, i put the center of the bow about even with my index finger , cos that's where my grip concentrates the pressure. then, i just place the arrow rest barely abovethe top of  my index finger.this puts the arrow rest about one inch above center.
 People who grip more with the whole palm might put the center of the bow closer to their middle finger, this would put the rest about 2 inches above center.
either way, it won't make TOO much difference and you can always move it to experiment. In my opinion glued on leather rest is far superior to a cut in rest.
b.t.w. ancient european style longbows had no arrow rest.
good luck with your bow- lets see some pictures

[dogwood3]

Thanks Aaron for your input.  It seems to me when shooting a longbow I put the pressure of the draw right at the base of my thumb, that is the thumb joint.  So, in your practice this  would put the center of the bow there.   For my hand, this would put the arrow rest about 2" above the center.  My original layout would work out about right.  Your right, it probably makes little difference, but I in reading one of St. Louis's answers to a letter in P.A., he made a passing reference to the placement.  It made me curious as to the theory behind placement.

I never use a shelf on any of my bows.  For years, I shot off my knuckle, but for some reason I feel more comfortable with a small leather wedge 1/8-1/4" glued into place for a little placement rest.

Thanks for your comments,

John M.  (Dogwood)