First 3 bows all shooters---BUT

[bambam]

All 3 bow are H Hill style, 70 in. ntn
Bow #1--red oak board bow with rawhide backing. It did not break and shoots straight but rookie mistakes caused it to come in at 37 lb. It took .75 in. set.
Bow #2--hard maple board bow with Irish linen backing. Did not break and shoots straight but came in at 38 lb. It took 2 in. of set.
Bow #3--red oak board bow with .030 glass backing. Did not break, shoots straight and got the 50 lb. I was shooting for. It took 2.5 in. of set.
Problem is all shoot rather slow compared to production lam bows. Is this normal for board bows? I plan to make one more board bow while waiting for my service berry staves to dry. I have another H Hill red oak board with Ipe handle in first rough stage. Any way to get some speed from something 50-55 lb. ? So far it looks like a heavier draw with rawhide backing might be best bet.

[huisme]

We'll need pics to diagnose any problems. Light tips, even tiller, and to a certain extent better than average wood all lend themselves to faster bows.

[bambam]

Re the 50 lb. --The tips are just under .5 in. The tiller is even. Board grain is all you could ask for.

[bubby]

1. 3/4' is pretty low set for any bow
2. are you sure it's hard maple I've made a lot of maple board bows, never got much set and they are all pretty darn quick
3. can't really comment we don't talk glass here
design, tiller, quality of materials all have something to do with performance, I think for the best speed you should build a pyramid style bow, see if you notice a difference
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,35312.0.html here's a maple bow build

[bubby]

most of my board selfbows are as fast , if not faster than my super kodiak

[DarkSoul]

Problem is all shoot rather slow compared to production lam bows. Is this normal for board bows?

Why is that a problem? How did you diagnose the problem? Do you have a chronograph? Did you compare bows with similar drawweight and identical arrows?
In short: a board bow does not necessarily have to shoot slower than a laminated bow. (Not sure what you mean by "production" lam bow...glass?)
I presume you're a beginner, based on your questions in this topic. Please respect huisme's suggestion for requesting pics. "The tiller is even" is a completely subjective statement by you, as a prejudiced beginner. A picture is an objective fact that can be analyzed. We just need more information to analyze your "problem".

[4dog]

dude your 3 bowa in and you got 3 shooters..ok no problem i see...i got lucky on my first and made a smokin fast bow....lol...well 60# bow shooting about 163fps ,exactly what SHOULD be expected from a 60# selfbow...the next few dont come that close and range from 40#-50# but slow movers due to inexperience...next few all got better..broke a couple...last build was a 65# 60# hard and fast bow but thats bow 11...give it some time and a few bows...your on your way!

[JoJoDapyro]

My Red oak board bow shoots as fast as my friends Osage bow. Only 4 pounds of difference between the two. What is Slow? Photos tell us more than words most of the time. I have a hard time writing down somethings, but a photo tells the story for me. My red oak also shot faster than a production longbow backed with glass, and had far less hand shock as well.

[Pat B]

There is a malady that affects some folks just getting into the wood bow world and it is called "fiberglass mentality". Not that it is a bad thing but it is like apples to oranges when comparing a modern FG lam bow(engineered) to a wood bow(crafted). The end results can be the same but the journey is totally different. Building high performance wood bows is very possible. Ask Marc St Louis and others...but it takes lots of years and lots of bows and unfortunately lots of failures. It takes learning the properties of different woods and different designs. It takes being able to put all this together and being able to approach your stave with confidence. You know the wood and you know the wood will direct you to a successful bow.
 Being a newbie doesn't mean you can't build great bows. Learning from your mistakes and pushing your ability a bit can get you more failures but it will teach you more than it will take if you allow it to.

[bambam]

OK-I figured it out. Put my genuine Howard Hill longbow on the tiller board. The bows I made had a seemingly perfect tiller but they bent a bit too much toward the tip. The genuine H Hill was getting more power nearer the handle. Now that is figured out bow #4 should be good. Will use the same pattern with red oak and rawhide backing because the first one really did only have a .75 inch set. Must have done the rawhide just right.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Its not a good idea to compare glass sandwich profiles to wood bow profiles. Two totally different animals. They have one thing in common, they shoot arrows.