plains bow question

[SA]

i started a  osage bow that is 50'' overall 1.5'' at the handle and about .5'' at the tips . i was wanting to do a plains style  bow should it be narrower like 1.25'' or is that good? i guess i just need to know what  the best layout from here is , any advise ..
thanks ,shawn

[JonW]

I have the same thing in the works. Mine is 1.5 inches as well. I figured that if it started getting to thin in the limbs I would start tillering from the sides. You could also narrow it in the handle some if the grip feels too wide in the hand.

[PatM]

It would be a fairly rare Plains bow to have much taper in the handle area.

[M-P]

Howdy,  You could always check out the bows described in J.Hamm and S. Allely's  Encyclopedia of Native American Bows and arrows.   The bows I've seen in museums are invariably pretty unexciting in over-all design.   Nice curves with their reflex, deflex, but very little taper and no narrowed handles.   Also they tend to be short and fairly narrow.   Ron