Noob ELB or pyramid bow

[Nightstalker]

Hi, P.A. folks. I'm quite new to bow craft and archery in general as well as the forum. Im seeking advice to any that will kindly divulge any. I've made one bow so far. Ran easily over 250 shots through it. 72" tip to tip roughly 35lb at 28". Shoots good I guess, never shot a bow till i "finished" this one. I attempted to make a pyramid bow and.. I failed lol. My good bow was made from a piece of red oak lowes lumber as I have no access to hickory or wood to make staves. The attempted pyramid was lowes oak, 2-1/2 wide at the fades, 3/4 wide tips, 1/2" thick limbs. What i can't seem to figure out is how it's so light compared to my good, narrower bow. Its 72" t2t  made from 1-1/2 oak. Limbs are approx same thickness. So my question to those is there any good parameters to go by for a heavy weight (60-80lb) bow. I've read n read forums till I'm scatterbrained. I don't really know what's good info as in based this pyramid of some dimensions I gathered in a forum somewhere. I don't have any tools except a pocket sureform, 4 way file, 6" plane. Lookin to get a table bandsaw soon. Thanks to all in advance. Apologies if this is difficult to wade through

[Hrothgar]

You probably can't expect to get a 60-80 lb. bow from a red oak board. Your dimensions sounded good, maybe have a slight taper rather than 1/2" thickness the whole length. Was the pyramid bow a 'bend through the handle' design?

[Pat B]

Welcome to PA, Nightstalker. Can you post pics of both bows, broken or not? That will help us determine whether it was the board or the design that failed.

[bradsmith2010]

I think u can go heavier...with parallel limbs

[Hawkdancer]

Welcome aboard, Nightstalker!  These folks have a wealth of knowledge.  Look on the Trading Post, you may find a stave there, and hit some of the Jams - lots of staves available for trade.  Good luck with the builds!
Hawkdancer

[bjrogg]

Every piece of wood is different. It's really not realistic to give a dimension and cut blank out to it and have it properly tillered. As you probably already noticed, two boards cut to same dimensions different weights. I'm quite sure different tillers to. Dimensions are always a starting point. If you want heavier you'll have to start thicker.
George has a web site for board bows that has helped many out. I'm sure he will pop in here. I'm thinking 60 to 80 lbs is gonna take a very nice board.
Like Pat said some pictures of your bows. Broken if that's how they are. If still shooting or tillering. Pictures of unbraced and drawn. Lots of reasons bows break.
I like staves. Many here have built nice board bows though. I like a good clean back with a ring chased. To hit my target weight I put on my Tillering tree with a scales in line. I always exercise limb and if it looks close to properly tillered without a hinge I pull it to my draw weight. Always pulling to your intended draw weight is the best way to finish at your intended draw weight. Then just keep perfecting your tiller till you reach your draw weight and your draw length.
Good Luck
Bjrogg

[Deerhunter21]

I found that as I made board bows that you NEED good grain! NEED! I had a bow with only a 2 grain run off and it broke like a twig along the grain runoff. I also had almost a perfect board, made a good board bow, but then it raised a splinter at the runoff and lost 10#. I don't really know why. would not recommend a board. I know you can make a ok bow with one but I would do a stave. It's not as hard as you think, I thought that I had no trees but now I'm finding bow woods everywhere! also white woods can dry super fast. Good luck! don't be discouraged by broken or failed bows! it's just a stick. you learn more from a broken bow than from a successful bow (I think!) oh and welcome to PA!