Osage bow for 33 inch draw

[bassman211]

I have a friend who's knuckles drag on the ground when he walks. His true draw is 33 inches. This guy has killed every thing from elephants to white tail with a rifle , or compound bow. He built his first Osage bow at a build meet that really is sub standard in about every way. He wants Will B, and I to build him an Osage bow 50 lbs. at 33 inch draw weight. He wants it as short as possible for that draw. Non working handle with an arrow shelf. Normally that should be a 77 inch self bow. I think I will take a shot at it with with a 68 inch sinew backed Osage bow. He is 6ft 6 inches tall, so that should make a short bow for him. I never tillered a bow to 33 inches sinew ,or not..  Have any one out their tillered an Osage bow for 33 inch draw, and yes his true draw is 33 inches?

[PaSteve]

Nope. Never tillered a bow to that draw length. I thought 29" was pretty far. Good luck, Bob,  I'm sure you and Will are up to the task.

[RyanY]

Reflex deflex design can help keep the length down and sinew will help.

[bassman211]

Boy , I don't know Steve.  Like you I have gone as far as 29 inches, but never any farther. Ryan is that my way of thinking also. I am going to insist on a knot free nearly perfect stave on this one. guys have posted break tests on bows on this forum that broke at some awful long draws, so that gives me some hope. Thanks guys.

[bradsmith2010]

its relative,, 66 should be fine with sinew,,

[BowEd]

That sounds like a challenge build.I made flat self bow for a fella pulling 31" once.That was 68" long.It held up ok.He's killing deer with it.
Your friend will have to train himself to get a little closer to the game maybe.
2 minds are better than one with this build I'd say.

[bownarra]

Drawlength is no problem simply scale a 'normal' bow.
28" draw bow - this bow needs to be 18% longer and wider.
1 1/4" width becomes - just under 1 1/2" width. Length 66" becomes 78". This is for a 'scaled' flatbow.
If you add sinew you can go shorter.
If you go wider you can go shorter.
You can go shorter than you think BUT string angle is the problem. Make it too short and you will have a stacky bow that is hard to be accurate with - the last thing this guy will want.
I personally would go down the sinew backed recurve route. The recurves will stop the stack. I would make it 67" ntn.
Funnily enough I've just made an osage recurve for a young man with a 30" draw. I made it 65" for safetys sake and he hasn't stopped growing yet!

[bassman211]

That is very close to what we were going to attempt bownarra. Thank you for your input, and the rest of you guys.

[George Tsoukalas]

I helped a friend with a 34" draw make an osage  self bow. We made it a kittle over 72" in length. Jawge

[organic_archer]

If you make it a true D-Bow, you can do draw length x2 plus a little for insurance. In your case, 66" is twice the draw, but I'd stretch it out to 70". Almost all my personal hunting bows are 70", and they're no more cumbersome in the woods than any other longbow.

[bradsmith2010]

if its bend in the handle,, he problaby wont draw that long,, if you want him to draw a little shorter just make it a bit heavier,, 

[bradsmith2010]

a sinew bow just does not have to be longer than twice the draw,,,especially if you recurve the tips a bit,, its just not gonna break,,
but I do agree if its a bit longer the string angle makes it a bit easier to shoot accurately,,

[sleek]

Go with a deflex/reflex/recurve design and you can pull impossible lengths. How wide of a stave do you have? Width will be your friend.

[bradsmith2010]

agree the reflex deflex will draw longer,, I have not done it,, but simon recommends it,, that and sleek is enough for me

[bassman211]

Inch, and a half at the fades to 1/2 inch at the tips flat bow style is what I have to work with, and a good amount of sinew. The stave is 68 inches long, and clean but ,for one small knot on the back. I was thinking 2 layers of sinew. Thanks for your input guys.