Whitewood and square section? where did "wide and thin" come from? lots of pics

[scp]

The question is which is more efficient for a particular stave. Somehow I'm getting the impression that even the "wide and thin" people are trying to make their bows as narrow as possible, at least not as wide and thin as fiberglass bows. Other than the ease of manufacture using primitive tools, what would be the reasoning behind such a tendency?

[PEARL DRUMS]

Performance and longevity is all that matters to me personally. I don't want a bow to simply not break, I want it to be the best bow it can be. Not all of us have the same spin, and that's cool to. I've built a pile and a half of bows from well over a dozen woods in more styles than I can remember. After a while it became obvious to me why I made some wide and some not so wide and why I SHOULD HAVE made some wider than I did. In my opinion, until you've shot a bow no less than 500-750 times you cant really tell how well built it was/is. So what if it didn't take set the day I made it, lets talk after a 1000 shots.

[bubby]

Performance and longevity is all that matters to me personally. I don't want a bow to simply not break, I want it to be the best bow it can be. Not all of us have the same spin, and that's cool to. I've built a pile and a half of bows from well over a dozen woods in more styles than I can remember. After a while it became obvious to me why I made some wide and some not so wide and why I SHOULD HAVE made some wider than I did. In my opinion, until you've shot a bow no less than 500-750 times you cant really tell how well built it was/is. So what if it didn't take set the day I made it, lets talk after a 1000 shots.
Pretty much how i was thinking

[bradsmith2010]

I made bows for guys that would shoot 1000 arrows a week,,, so any flaw in design became apparent quickly, great testing ground,, "overbuilt bows" were the only ones that would stand up,, a bow that had no set from a few hundred shots,, would start to shift after a few weeks if everything was not perfect,,,
I am not a thin bow or wide bow advocate,, but there are proven advantages to both,, no right or wrong here depending on design,, but most the time a wider limb bow will draw further without taking set or breaking,, that is why on some woods it is,, the only design that will lead to consistent success,,
example, take one of the narrow bows that is at its max draw,, now draw it 3 more inches for a 100 shots and shoot it through the chronograph,, now take a same wood bow that is  about 2 inches wide but same draw weight and length and do the same,,,the chronograph will make it very clear what the advantages of the wider limb can be,,

[Badger]

  It all comes down to what radius you are bending them at. I might use a 10" radius bend in a bow or I might use a 72" radius bending area. The larger the radius the thicker the wood can be. If a bow is a bendy handle 6" long elb with a circular tiller it might be 3/4" or more thick. It just depends on the design. If you make it too thick you loose power. I am working on one right now that is just over 1/4" thick and still to thick. I should have brought it down just a little more.