35 pounder i made for my son.

[Yellowstave]

Its 51 inches ttt. 35 lb at 28 inches and shoots a 10 gpp arrow 133 fps at 28 inch draw. My son cant draw that now but can surely grow with this one a while. So give it to me good guys.. where are my mistakes?

[PatM]

I love this design. I'd just change the giant handle/fades section.   For the weight you could have a tiny bulbous handle with the limbs running right up into the hand so that the working section is practically a D bow.

 That would eliminate your set problem.

[Yellowstave]

Thanks pat. Ive just recently started to come to terms with those little handles. For some reason i like the looks of the big handles but im learning that, as you pointed out, is alot of the reason for set.  Ive just finished another bow and id like your opinion on it too. Ill post on another thread.

[Trapper Rob]

Good looking bow. Looks like he should have a lot of fun with it.

[Hawkdancer]

Neat bow!  I would personally made it a bit lighter to be some closer to his capability, and started on a heavier one for later!  On the other hand, 35# is legal for big game herein Colorado.
Hawkdancer

[Mesophilic]

Ive just recently started to come to terms with those little handles. For some reason i like the looks of the big handles but im learning that, as you pointed out, is alot of the reason for set.

I was the same way when I got started a couple years ago.  Had it in my head that a proper bow should have a large riser, akin to modern ILF takedowns. 

That bow looks real good, hope your son appreciates it amd it plants the seed.  My 7 year old is already talking about making her own bow

[sleek]

If you listen to these guys and get that handle as short as possible, you can get into the 160s fps with this style.

[Julian]

for what its worth,

around 10 to 15 pounds at their draw length is a good weight for a kid even up to the age of like, 14-15. if its too hard for them to pull they'll get discouraged and they won't enjoy shooting

[Yellowstave]

Yeah i get that. But his draw length is 16 inches now, which put him pulling about 15 lbs right now.  This also allows him to grow into a stronger pull as his draw length gets longer. He has no problems shooting it. He told me yesterday that he thinks he was born to shoot bows. Lol

[bjrogg]

That's great he likes shooting bow yellow stave. You can do just like you did and he can grow into his bow. However if you really want to one more built to his draw scale everything down. Shorter bow narrow limbs and tips and lighter arrows. What you have now will work but at 16" draw it has a lot of extra weight to get moving. Also agree on the handle comments.
All said it's still a very nice bow and I'd have been thrilled if my dad had made me one. Way to pass it on.
Bjrogg

[Jim Davis]

Your bow accomplishes its  purpose perfectly.

As for improvement, looking at images of successful self bows is very useful. Imitating features of fiberglass laminated bows, not so much. Most of the bows you could look at on this site are the way they are for one of two reasons--performance or appearance. Imitate the qualities that are important to you.

My bows are for performance/durability/shootability. Appearance is always secondary  to me. (I admit that gizmosity is a temptation  )