Cut the stave to lengh. Lay a weighted strand of bowsting end to end. Orient the stave in the bench vice so that... with the string on the crown at the ends, the string lays down the center of the stave in the handle area. Then, if feasible, mark a centerline under the string, just at the mid-section, extending from flare to flare. It's nice to have the handle area parallel with the string (unlike the bow in my previous post). If it's a stiff-handled design, you can cheat the grain some in the area where it won't bend if need be.
Mark the ends of the stave where the string hangs over the ends. This is the centerline. I like to also use a little torpedo level to extend this line vertically down the end of the stave. These plumb lines are used to help orient the bandsaw blade when cutting out the width profile. Then no matter how the limbs snake back and forth, all limb sides will be parallel. I reference them before I begin each cut and several times during each cut... more-so the snakier the stave is.
The next step is to connect those points, the centerline at the tips with the centerline at the flares, by following the grain. This is your lateral centerline.
To layout the width profile... since the stave is snakey, we obviously can't use a patten or straightedge. So divide each limb into several sections lengthwise. Do the math and divide it into as many sections as needed to create sections roughly 4 to 5" long. For instance, if the top limb is 28" long from flare to tip, diving by 7 gives us 7 sections 4" long. Be sure to divide the other limb into the same number of sections, even if it is a different length (assymetrical bow). If this bow had a bottom limb 1 1/2" shorter, we would divide 26.5" by 7 and get 7 sections 3.79" long... ahout 3 25/32" long. Draw a line across the stave at those places... perpendicular to the centerline.
Next we need to figure out the width at each section. If you want your limb to taper evenly from say 1 1/2" at the flares to 1/2" at the tips, we can do it like this... The difference in width between the flare and tip is 1". So we need to lose 1" in width in 7 sections. 1 ÷ 7 = .14 We need to taper down, or lose .14" total width per section.... which equals .07 per side... a little more than 1/16", on each side of the centerline. Layout those widths on each side of the centerline at each section and connect the dots while following the grain. These width measurements are identical on both limbs.... because they're both losing 1" of width in 7 sections.
That's pretty much it. The remaining work, shaping and tillering is done pretty much like any other bow.
Well, I'm at work, so I better go do something constructive
