Thank you all for your kind words and comments, and all the help! It was a lot of fun, and it shoots hard. I took it yesterday to a local proshop and shot it through a chrono, it was averaging about 125FPS with a 475gr arrow. Not as fast as I had hoped it would be, but based on how far it will stick an arrow into my targets and the ones at that shop, I have ZERO doubt that I could take any game around my neck of the woods. Also, I'm fairly certain that I know why it's not shooting as fast, which to me knowing the whys and being able to fix them later is the best part. As many of you have pointed out, the tips are thick and heavy: they are about 1/2" wide and thicker than the rest of the bow to make them non-bending. The way I put the curves in there puts 3 pieces of wood and a good bit of glue right at the tip, meaning more mass meaning sluggishness. I considered thinning them down as SLIMBOB stated, but it's shooting well for me and I don't want to screw it up now. That's my theory anyway, sound right to you guys?
Bubby and soy, about the transition at the fades, I totally agree. That area in my bows has always been the area that breaks - I broke 3 bows right there on the path to making this one. I have yet to figure out the best way to smooth out that curve and make it seamless. The bow ended up taking about 1 1/2" of set, still working on that as well.
I was also wondering about hickory. I have read on hear many times that hickory will suck up moisture and have less than desirable cast because of that. I have certainly seen that with one of my daughters bows, she has a small hickory self bow and in damp weather (which is almost every day here in central Alabama in the spring) it certainly does suffer. Will the same be true of a hickory backing strip? It's a decent amount of hickory, at least 1/8" all the way across the bow. I sealed it pretty good with the Tung oil, but will it still draw in moisture and suffer from it?
