First Ashbow, Need help

[Telrasha]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum and am hoping you can provide me some advice. So far I have only ever made bows with Manau Rattan but a friend gave me an Ash stave that is pre-formed into the basic bow shape.

Most ash bows I see are very thin but very wide whereas this one is not very wide at all so my question is how thin I should go to get a 30-40# bow. I don't want to go too thin and snap it but also feel like it is going to be much harder to string it. So my 2 questions are: 1) how thin should I roughly go and 2) do i need to do anything before being able to string it for the first time?

Dimensions:
Length - 130cm/4.26 feet
Width - 3.5cm/1.4" tapered to 0.75" at the tips

Thanks,
Jelle

[Pat B]

That is a very short stave and would be difficult for a beginner to build a successful bow. You might be able to get a bow that draws 18" to 20". As far as draw weight you remove wood from the belly as you tiller the bow until you get both limbs bending evenly and together and achieve your desired draw weight at a safe draw length.

[bradsmith2010]

ok lets call it 48 inches or 4 feet
i  think 20 inches like Pat said is doable
it will be good practice on tiller,, if its very even in tiller.. and bend in handle,, maybe a little more draw,,
especially if you make it light weight in draw,,
but go for the 18 to 20 first,,

[Telrasha]

Great thanks both.

Just to conform with 20" you mean the draw length right?
So as I tiller just make sure not to draw it beyond that.

Cheers,
Jelle