Bend through handle help?

[Bowjo]

I have never made a bend through handle bow.I have some thin pieces of osage laying around and wanted to try a few.
I would like some rough dimensions to see if any of these staves would work.
What thickness and width at handle would be minimum for a 50# bow?What length for 28" draw....Thank you

[Newindian]

couldnt tell you about the width, but if the bow is un backed it sould be 56 inches long

[aaron]

i have a 50 lb osage bendy handle:
1 3/8 wide
a bit over 5/8 thick
57" long

[Pat B]

In Al Herin's chapter on Eastern Woodland Bows, in chapter 3 of TBBII, the Cherokee hunting bow on page 76, is 61 3/4" long, 1 3/8" wide and 9/16" thick at the handle tapering to 7/8" wide and 5/16" thick.
        How thick are the slats you have?
  When I build a bend in the handle bow I tiller the limbs, mid limb first then bring the bend back into the handle area as I approach full draw. I never measure thickness but reduce wood until I get the desired results. If you start out with a too thin center you will get too much bend at the handle because of the leverage of the limbs. The area near the handle is the most stressed area of a bow whether it be a rigid handle or a bendy handle bow.

[Bowjo]

Thanks guys ,How wide do you leave it at the tips? Would I just taper from handle to tip width or taper to mid limb as I do on handle bows?..Thanks again

[Bowjo]

Sorry about that,I made that last post before I saw Pat B.'s reply.Thanks for the replies

[Pat B]

What are the dimensions of your osage stave?

[Bowjo]

The stave I am working with is a cutoff of a bigger stave.It looks like 1 1/8" is as big as I can go on the handle and still keep thickness.I have 75" of length .

[Pat B]

1 1/8" is fine. You will just have to go a little thicker but that should not be a problem.

[SA]

on  cherokees style bow i leave the tips about 1/2'' to 5/8'' wide and taper down towards the middle of the bow about 10'' , the diamond nocks are around 3/4'' long (i've made them1 1/2'' long and they looked pretty cool) .

[JW_Halverson]

I have a bendy handle osage that is 7/8 wide and 36 inches long.  Pulls about 55 lbs at 15 inches of draw.  Maybe I need sinew to back it, it seems kinda wimpy. 

If that's what you have in mind, you have enough for two bows!!!  Mind you, as short as that bow is, I'd have to be locked in a phone booth in order to hit it with an arrow!

Go to a minimum of at least twice your draw length, add a couple extra inches for safety, and make her at least 1 1/8 in the handle if you got it.  If not, add another couple inches and go with 1" wide in the handle.