Stave taper(taking down to 2 inch width entire length)

[birdpointlightstring32]

just cut down elm. I was taking stave down to bow to 2 inches wide entire length and ¾ inch thick. Elm is of course wider and the bottom and narrows toward the top. tree is about 5 inches around. I believe this caused it to be hard to tiller and cut to correct size to dry. What should of I of done? would it evened out if I cut a larger diameter log because there is a big difference in diameter from bottom to top.?ty

[Pat B]

Make the butt end the bottom limb. It should be a bit stiffer anyway.   Don't worry about how thick the limbs are. Remove wood until you get both limbs bending evenly and together and at the draw length and draw weight weight you want.    The bottom limb may come out different thickness from the top but if they both bend well that is all that matters.

[birdpointlightstring32]

Also on this this stave(5 inch circumference around log) the heart wood is very easy to tear out and almost formed a ditch when splitting. the heart wood feels more fragile than the elm sapwood. I may have a faint amount of heart wood on the belly and will have a lot in the handle. Is all this normal? TY