Questions on Hickory

[foolishman]

I am working on a working handle ELB made out of hickory with a flat belly.  The stave is 74" long, 1.25" wide, has dried in a nice reflex, and is very dense with about 30 rings per inch.  I have read that hickory is very tough wood, but needs about 2" on the back to be safe with heavier weights.  I am planning on shooting for 45-55 lbs @ 32", but this is my second bow and I am wondering would this weight be too high for such a thin stave.  Please any advice would be very welcome.

[Eric Garza]

I think you'd be fine leaving the stave thin at that length and weight. When people say it needs to be wide at heavy weights, they're usually referring to 80 pounds draw plus. I've made short bows of hickory that draw 50 pounds and left them narrow, and it's worked fine.

[DarkSoul]

You'll have enough width for that drawweight.

However, the drawlength bothers me a bit. Why do you want to draw it to 32"? Are you trying to go for a warbow style draw? Or are you 7 feet tall? Most archers draw 28" maybe up to 29". And with your drawweight, I don't think you're after a warbow style shooting style, are you? Either way, with that drawlength, I think you should try to make the bow 76" tall, or if your stave is 74", you might consider lowering your drawlength an inch.

A tip for a hickory longbow: leave the belly flat, but crown the back a bit.

[Badger]

  With a working handle and 74" long 1 1/4 is plenty wide. You could probably go up to 70# with that style.