Elb dimensions

[wood_bandit 99]

There is a poor man's yew stave that a friend wants to give away for $25 which i thought crappy yew is better than no yew and am thinking of buyin it. It has 19 rpi and is 2" wide the whole stave and a few inches thick and 72 inches long. I was thinking $25 is a fair price but want to make a elb out of it. It wouldn't have to be the specific ratio of width to thickness but it would still have that cross section. What dimensions should it be? 1.25" at handle tapering to 3/4" 8 inches from the handle and make it 55-65 lbs and 66" long. Does it sound good or too wide or long?

[bubby]

go 1 1/4" square, 4" handle 1 1/2" fades straight taper to 1/2" tips, same taper on the belly, bub

[Del the cat]

Make it longer at least 70" IMO. 72" is a reasonable start... you can always cut it shorter... especially as you near final tiller and put on decent nocks. The clue is in the name 
66" is ok if you are 5'4" tall and drawing 24-26"...
Keep the tips a bit wider with temporary wooden overlays glued on the back. This allows for sideways adjustment to stop twist and keep the string line right. They can try and go sideways on you especially if there is some reflex.
Once it's back to about 20" you can start narrowing the tips.

I normally mark 'em up at about 30mm square over the centre section then the ends tapering to about 20mm square. The final stages of tillering slim the tips right down.
If you are not sure of the quality of the wood go for a slightly wide flatter belly more like this 'D' rather than a steeply arched one.
Del

[toomanyknots]

The clue is in the name