Now that most of my synapses are firing on this bow, I remember some other things. This bow was supposed to be a lighter weight one for my daughter. It is 1-1/4" wide (I erroneously posted 1-3/4" above earlier) for half the limb. In accordance with my 'just do it' philosophy, I took this back up without regards to earlier plans. My daughter will forgive me, she knows who I am
It is now fairly well shot in, 50# @ 28" with 1-1/4" of set right off the string. It surprises me since I always made hunting weight whitewoods 1-3/4" wide. But I have not made a bunch of them so haven't really tested the limits.
I have pretty much concluded that if I* get a bow to near finished thickness before bending it, I get a lot less set. My ideal would be to never have to sneak up on tiller again. In other words, I wish a piece of wood could tell me exactly the thickness it wants to be for the weight I want. All along the length and width of the limbs.
*Your results are quite likely to vary.