Help? Best design for a narrow board

[Academonicon]

Hey folks.  I could use a little advice.  I've got a nice hickory board with good grain-pattern, and I want to make a bow out of it, but it's narrower than I thought - 1.5" across.  I don't want to have to back it, though I know that may have to be done, but in the meantime, what would be the best design for a narrow board like this?  Ideally I'd like to do a pyramid recurve, but I'm a little concerned about the low surface-area on the back of the bow being a breaking hazard.  Thoughts?

[Badger]

 What kind of draw weight. If you are going for 50#and a stiff handle I would say keep it at least 68" long. I would flip back the tips and reflex it a bit but no recurves on that oone.

[Academonicon]

I'm actually only looking for this one to pull about 35#, no higher than 40.  But yes, stiff handle.

[Badger]

  You could do a pyramid wit that, but a recurve doesn't go well with a pyramid. You could put a gentle flip in the tips and a little reflex and be fine. I do see quite a few pyramid style recurves around on self bows but I just don't like them.

[Academonicon]

I'm not married to the pyramid design.  What would you suggest if I want to keep the recurve plan?

[George Tsoukalas]

I like bend in the handle designs for boards. Jawge

[Badger]

Tim Baker used to make these 1 1/2 wide board bows about 68" long that slightly bent through the handle and they were sweet shooting bows. Shooting around a 1 1/2 wide handle is not that bad.