Narrowing tips

[Don Case]

I want to get the tips as narrow as possible. How do I know when to stop?
Thanks
Don

[huisme]

Just continue the taper of the working limb. You can get a bow working all the way to the tips if you want.

[Don Case]

I thought the last few inches were supposed to be stiff? I was thinking more in width than thickness but anyway to reduce mass!
Don

[PatM]

They can be as narrow as you think will still allow a back nock to be rounded for the string.

[Bryce]

As long as there is mass in thickness you should be alright. I've seen nocks thinner than 1/4"

[dwardo]

Just keep thinning them a bit more than you think you should and it still wont be enough

[Don Case]

I've got a few knots and flaws to work around but I'll fly at 'er.

[Del the cat]

Narrow it untill you feel it's in danger of becoming weak in a side to side direction ( assuming you have enough thickness to keep it non bending, or only bending a tad  in the desired direction). Dont worry if you go too thin, you can always add a belly overlay to make it like a T section!
I've sometimes fancied maybe taking the tips to an 'I' section or a V section (pointed edge twards the back) for max stiffness with lightness.
No prob with nocks if you slap on a nice overlay, could even overlay the sides if it's an issue or do a small ELB style horn nock...
Damn you've got me wanting play.... 
So to sumarise, reduce it until if fails, then go back a tad
Del

[blackhawk]

Depends on wood species ...design used.....how good your string tracking is....if you use overlays or not and what style nocks etc etc......but you told us nothing of those so any answer anyone has given you so far is incorrect

Can u please answer those questions? Pics as well?

[Don Case]

Right now it's clamped to a caul so pictures and string tracking are pending. It's Ocean Spray and I'm planning on Ipe tip overlays. I didn't realize this was so dependant on species etc.
Don

[Del the cat]

Depends on wood species ...design used.....how good your string tracking is....if you use overlays or not and what style nocks etc etc......but you told us nothing of those so any answer anyone has given you so far is incorrect

Can u please answer those questions? Pics as well?

My answer wasn't incorrect!
I'll tell Mrs Cat of you Bwah... Bwah 
She'll give you one of her hard stares an' they you'll be sorry.
Del

[steve b.]

Don I would not go for small tips on your stave.  Unless you are talking about just the last couple of inches.  Your stave does not track well and you already said your limbs twist when you string it.   If you are going to heat correct that limb and handle then I'd reconsider the tip thing but otherwise don't do a long narrow taper to small tips.
There's no advantage to the tiny tip thing anyway.

[Don Case]

This question was not specifically about the bow I'm building. It came up(in my brain) because I'm about to that point. I'm still in the "gathering information about whatever comes up" stage. That's one reason that I put it in a separate topic. Blackhawk brought up a good point as I hadn't thought about string tracking. I've steamed out some of the bends so it won't be as bad as it was. I'll see in an hour or so when I pop off the clamps. I really appreciate the help, I would have been in big trouble by now but it's going OK.
Don

[blackhawk]

Del we posted the same time..u hadn't replied yet when I went to reply 

Don since each species has a different specific gravity(density) some woods can(and should) be narrower than others...and like I said string tracking,twists,wood defects,and such need also to be taken into account....if you have clean straight wood and a string that tracks dead nuts down both limbs and handle to the tips the narrower you can go and get optimum performance and stuff from your bow...if you don't have it all perfect you'll have to make your tips wider to account for lateral stability...