New member and first bow

[BowEd]

Welcome to the PA.Pretty darn good first bow I'd say.That old saying of take wood away where you want it to bend more and less where you don't applys here.Your left mid limb and out a bit will do it.Just wait till you make one out of osage.A bow of your ash bow dimensions out of osage would be about an 80#bow.
Making arrows to me is fun now after trying enough to get proper success.Seems like there's a learning curve to all things,but your on the right track IMHO.Some people get after it more than others.Archery is so much more fun to me making your own equipment.A lot of insight and fullfillment is gathered as to the whys & hows of things.Especially the properties of strengths and weaknesses of different woods & composite materials.Don't be afraid to fail.It's the only way a person learns.I take it you've never broke one yet.If not you did start out with a wood and design to have success the first time.Nice bow there.

[BowEd]

Oh you might want to get the PA magazine too.It just feeds the fire......LOL.

[Pappy]

Looks pretty good to me especially for your first,like has been said bottom needs a little more bend mid 1/3 the top is a little hinged close to the end,but you will loose a lot of weight to scrape it out,might try a thin patch in the area,I have done that several times,just be sure the patch is thin enough to bend with the limb before you brace or pull it.  You could pike it to pick up some weight but with Ash and that long of a draw I wouldn't sudget that.Are you sure you draw 29
inches ?
   Pappy

[Bitterguy]

To my novice eyes it looks like you still have a hinge near the right tip

[George Tsoukalas]

Such great advice! Just to reenforce...don't pull any more at that long fdraw until you fix that hinge as described. Good job on your first. Jawge

[lake flyer]

Pappy, I am such a novice that I figured my draw by holding a yardstick out in front to my finger tips. I really doubt that I draw 29", because not having shot a bow in so long (25 years) drawing that bow is really tough. I am guessing that my real draw length is probably more like 26". I will try to ease that hinge at the top and reduce the bottom at the last third to even up the limbs. I will post again when I get that done.

Beadman, you are right, I have never broken a bow, this is my very first attempt at even trying to make a bow. I have no woodworking skills or background and really have little idea how to correctly shoot a bow. I am less than a novice, I am an absolute beginner. This just looked like something neat to do with minimal tools and maximum patience.
 
I am not sure what Pappy is saying about patching or to pike it, that is how little I know about this craft. 

thanks George, I will not full draw it until I work on that hinge.

I figure if I make a lot of mistakes and how to correct them I will learn more than if I were to accidentally make a great bow my first time out. So if it breaks, so be it. I will learn from it. I would like to make more bows so failure is not a problem for me. I get lots and lots of wood for nothing so other than sweat and time to split and tiller it I have nothing invested.

Thanks to everyone for the replies and great advice!

[BowEd]

Well Lakeflyer...I mostly coonhunted all my life and started makin these addicting bows too about three to four years ago.Not knowing how to shoot a bow properly either.It gets easier as you do more and more and more and more.