Help designing my next bows

[arachnid]

Ok, I got both boo backing strips flatten and thinned down to 1/8"..... with no belt sander. All I used are a plane, a spoke-shave and a lot of sweat. Took about and hour to do both.

I do vace a question about tillering the ELB. Do I leave the few outer inchs of the limbs stiff or do I make it a bit whippy?

[bubby]

Eliptical tiller and not whippy

[mikekeswick]

Yes elliptical but definitely not whippy!
simply trace the side profile before bending it and then everytime you unbrace it compare it to the unbent side profile. Set will start to show at about 20 inches. From there out use the set as your guide. you want none at all inner limb, a fraction mid limb then the rest out to the tips. I used to glue mine up with 1 1/2 inch of eflex and most would still hold some when tillered and shot in.

[arachnid]

Ok got it. Thanks.
One more thing.... As I said, I flattened the boo but it looks so narrow! A bit unsafe even.... You told me to start at 1" thick, in the end, how thick is it going to be approximately? It just lpoks so slim, I'm not used to it....

[DC]

When I made my boo backed yew the largest bamboo I could get at a reasonable price was 3". I planned and sanded it down to 1/8 tapering to 1/16". It was only about 1 1/8" wide at the wide end. I just made the bow match the dimensions of the boo and it turned into one of the best bows I have. Right around 40# @ 28" but I could have gotten 50-55# no sweat. It's a bit late now but when you are splitting the boo check to see if it's oval shaped and split so you get the flattish side. You are probably better to try and get a 4" dia boo but over here there seems to be a price break at 3". 3" was $40 and 4" was $80.

[mikekeswick]

Ok got it. Thanks.
One more thing.... As I said, I flattened the boo but it looks so narrow! A bit unsafe even.... You told me to start at 1" thick, in the end, how thick is it going to be approximately? It just lpoks so slim, I'm not used to it....


a 40# bow would be around 7/8th at center, 50# maybe 15/16ths and above 60# don't alter the center thickness.
Anyway leave the center full thickness to establish the belly thickness taper. Then as you tiller you can finesse the bend towards the handle. You can even leave the center full 1 inch thickness and reduce the work it will do there.
Get it roughed out and I can help you with the tiller if you want.

[arachnid]

Ok thanks Mike. I'll get the lams ready and keep you posted

[arachnid]

Sooooo... I got a piece of hard maple. long and thick. I plan to rip it to 1/8" strips.
Here are some pics.

Face- near perfect grain (look at the angle of the end grain):


Sides- Well, the grain sucks at the sides...


Now, I plan to use it as a core and back the whole think with bamboo.
My question is, can I use it as backing strips? the grain on the face side is one of the straightest I`ve seen but the side grain concernes me.
Your thoughts please.