david, thanks. sometimes i wonder if my explanations make any sense.
radius, the only problems it may cause is stress on that area. Sometimes bows can break there. But if it no problems have showed up by now, I wouldn't worry about it. Since your bow is tillered really well, and made of osage, I doubt it there will be any problems.
handle dimensions details:
http://analogperiphery.blogspot.com/2007/03/selfbow-handle-dimensions.htmlshamus, what about bows which are parallel out to mid limb or past?
That's a very popular style of bows these days (Holmegarrds, modified meare heathes, etc). They work pretty well on woods that need that extra width at midlimb. On those woods, a 1.5" limb with a gradual taper is not a good design. Woods that can be, and should be, made narrower (osage, yew, and some other woods) seem to me to better served with a gradual width taper.
You see a gradual width taper in the classic American flatbow design.
Usually a gradual taper in the width means that the bow's thickness in the limbs will not taper as much. Pyramid bows are the classic example of this because they flare out to 2" wide (instead of 1.5") and taper to .5" at the nocks. Such a taper in width can mean an almost uniform limb thickness when tillered, but that is not absolute. A gradual width taper does dot eliminate the need for a thickness taper, it just makes that thickness taper more gentle. It makes tillering easier, at least for me. Perhaps on those woods that need more midlimb mass, a classic pyramid would serve them just as well as a bow with full width out to midlimb.
...and then there are modifications of the gradual width taper: 1.5-1.75" for the first 6", then taper to .75" until the last 6", then taper to under .5" at the nocks, and other such variations.
No design is superior. Each has their advantages and we have to match the right design to the wood. And designs can be modified and hybridized.
