.5 inch too thin for a board bow?

[billbagner]

Hello,

I have been making bows for a few years, all on boards. Up until now, I've used 3/4 inch thick boards. However, I recently came across a board that was 2.5 inches wide, 48 inches long but only .5 inches thick. The grain on it is perfect. Is this too thin for a bow? Or could I get away with a really wide limb design and a very shallow taper?

[Deerhunter21]

a bowyer i talk to made a amazing recurve out of a 1/2 inch board! snag it quick!!

[billbagner]

Thanks for the reply Deerhunter. I will give it a snag. I'm not comfortable enough yet to freestyle a design but I am looking through this thread http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=25626.0 and gleaning some idea. I was thinking about doing 2.5 inch wide limbs out of the fades to 1 inch wide nocks with a pyramid style taper.

[mmattockx]

What wood is it, what is your target draw length and weight? 0.5" thick is OK depending on the wood, but that 48" length is going to severely limit what you can get for draw length unless you splice on some levers to add length.


Mark

[billbagner]

What wood is it, what is your target draw length and weight? 0.5" thick is OK depending on the wood, but that 48" length is going to severely limit what you can get for draw length unless you splice on some levers to add length.


Mark

It was a piece of red oak. My draw length is 28 inches but I was thinking of shooting for 24 inches for this bow at somewhere in the 30-40 lb range. Even if it came in light, I'd be okay as long as it was functional.

[bradsmith2010]

I think sinew back or rawhide at least,, 24 inch draw is very nice to shoot,,

[mmattockx]

It was a piece of red oak. My draw length is 28 inches but I was thinking of shooting for 24 inches for this bow at somewhere in the 30-40 lb range. Even if it came in light, I'd be okay as long as it was functional.

If you can make it bendy handled then it might survive with a 24" draw length but I suspect you will be light on weight. I would start with close to the full board width on your limbs and tiller for a full circular arc right out to the nocks. Stiff tips and a stiff handle will take away working limb and you need to avoid that with such a short length. I still think you would be better off with spliced on tips, you would get to a more reasonable length and it would look pretty cool if you used a nice contrasting wood in the tips.


Mark

[bownarra]

1/2" thick isn't thick enough for a stiff handled design anyway
It will likely only make a 30#'er without bending too much in the middle.
Adding a sinew backing that is thick in the middle and tapered in thickness would allow more weight.
You could cut two side by side lams out of it. Reduce one down to 1/4" thick for the back, 1/2" for the belly and glue them together if you wanted more weight.

[Flntknp17]

I use 1/2" boards all the time for making full weight bows.  The key is to back them.  I typically take 1/2" hickory or hard maple (oak will work just fine also and I have used it) and back them with either a thin hickory slat or a piece of bamboo.  Another good option would be linen and Titebond 3.  If you don't back it, then making a bow much over 40-45# is going to be really hard.  Backed, I think you could make a bow of 60# if you wanted to. 

I just finished working on the recurve in the picture below.  It was a 1/2" hickory board that I backed with bamboo and is 45@27 and 60" long.  I say go for it! 

[billbagner]

I use 1/2" boards all the time for making full weight bows.  The key is to back them.  I typically take 1/2" hickory or hard maple (oak will work just fine also and I have used it) and back them with either a thin hickory slat or a piece of bamboo.  Another good option would be linen and Titebond 3.  If you don't back it, then making a bow much over 40-45# is going to be really hard.  Backed, I think you could make a bow of 60# if you wanted to. 

I just finished working on the recurve in the picture below.  It was a 1/2" hickory board that I backed with bamboo and is 45@27 and 60" long.  I say go for it! 

Nice bow! And thanks for the detailed reply. I have some linen and Titebond here but will make a trip to the store and see if there's any maple that will answer the mail. Hopefully so, but it's nice to know that I have an alternative!

Here is the design I have been going over (ignore the lack of scale and weird canted layout):



Would a design like this be feasible or is this wrong?

[mmattockx]

1/2" thick isn't thick enough for a stiff handled design anyway

I can't speak for a 48" bow, but my last one is a stiff handled maple pyramid, 2" wide at the fades, 65" NTN and 38lb @ 28". Limbs are 0.385" thick from the fades to the last 11" and then taper to 0.325" thick at the nock.

Here is the design I have been going over (ignore the lack of scale and weird canted layout):



Would a design like this be feasible or is this wrong?

I would carry the 2.5" width out onto the limbs for at least 2" off the fades and narrow the tips to 1/2" or less at the nocks. Your handle doesn't need to be 2" wide, either, but that is more your choice than a requirement.


Mark

[bradsmith2010]

I post this quite often, the average Sioux arrow was 23 inches and bows were often less than 50 inches,,, I would have to assume they thought that was a reasonable length for that style bow,,and didnt feel the draw or bow was short,, that being said I like all length bows,  a short bow can be very effective for certain applications,,it does take more skill to shoot the shorter bow accurately, splicing tips would give you more length and if that was what you wanted and I think a reasonable solution to making a bow longer, but not necessary,, a sinew backed bendy or stiff handle would draw to 24 inches and be as heavy as you want,, its all realative to what you want to shoot,,
  I just finished a 48 inch osage bow sinew backed, it will shoot a 415 grain hunting arrow 180 fps,,
it draws 24 inches,,and is about 55 pounds,, I just finished a 46 inch recurve and it shoots nicely as well,, I can draw it to,,23 inches,,and it has good cast,, I pulled it to 24 inches on the tree to see if it could hold up,, have not shot it at that draw ,, it is too heavy for me right now,,

[billbagner]

1/2" thick isn't thick enough for a stiff handled design anyway

I can't speak for a 48" bow, but my last one is a stiff handled maple pyramid, 2" wide at the fades, 65" NTN and 38lb @ 28". Limbs are 0.385" thick from the fades to the last 11" and then taper to 0.325" thick at the nock.

Here is the design I have been going over (ignore the lack of scale and weird canted layout):



Would a design like this be feasible or is this wrong?

I would carry the 2.5" width out onto the limbs for at least 2" off the fades and narrow the tips to 1/2" or less at the nocks. Your handle doesn't need to be 2" wide, either, but that is more your choice than a requirement.


Mark

Thanks for the input. I originally wanted to keep the limbs at full width for the first 12 inches and then taper down to the nocks.