short american elm ?

[Matt A]

i've got a 57 inch stave i'm messing with, I originally drew out a pyramid style but came to the conclusion that that wouldn't work for a 31" draw pretty quick i had it roughed out to pretty wide and didn't touch the handle area.
can I just narrow the width and slightly narrow that width for the handle area and make it a D style bow?

[steve b.]

Hey Matt.  In general, the problem with bendy handles is that they need to NOT be the weak link in the tiller chain.  So the handle needs to be nearly as wide as the widest part of the bow or the same as.  Its not practical to make a D-bow with, say, a 2" wide handle as its just hard to grab on to.  So most D bows end up around 1.5" and that width limits what the bow can end up being.
I've never even heard of a 31" draw.  Are you sure you understand how to measure it?  That's a long draw for any size bow let alone a 57".  Its possible for sure but to get that much bend from a short bow you have to have good quality wood and good tillering.

[Newindian]

but came to the conclusion that that wouldn't work for a 31" draw pretty quick bow?

what is your intended draw length now?

So the handle needs to be nearly as wide as the widest part of the bow or the same as. 

I've never heard that nor followed it. I've never worked with elm but I don't think a 1inch wide handle would push it to mucj

[Matt A]

i put the end of the tape measure on the skin in between my index and thumb and draw and measure to where i anchor right below my eye if that's the way to do it lol

i could anchor shorter no big deal just as long as i can look right down the arrow no big deal to me.

[Weylin]

For some reason that method of measuring draw lengths tends to give a longer reading than your actual draw length. I have a 26" draw length but when I do that thing with the tape measure it is really easy for me to pull out to 30" and still feel comfortable even though it's ridiculously long in reality. The best way to measure that I know of is to get a real bow that you know you can over draw and put a clothes pin on the arrow towards the tip. draw the bow naturally and let the back of the handle push the clothes pin out as you draw. Then measure the distance from the clothes pin to the inside of the nock. Make sure to do it several times and find the average. I bet you'll come up with something different than 31" Unless you're 7 feet tall or something.

[danny f]

i put the end of the tape measure on the skin in between my index and thumb and draw and measure to where i anchor right below my eye if that's the way to do it lol

i could anchor shorter no big deal just as long as i can look right down the arrow no big deal to me.
[/quote

when i made my first bow  i did what you have done to measure my draw length and i measured 28", then when my bow was done, it turned out  i only draw to around 25".

[blackhawk]

As was stated above about a bendy needing to be as wide at the handle as the limbs is just untrue. You can narrow it in a smooth and rounded cornered transition. I've made plenty of short bendys with 2"+ wide limbs and a 1 1/4"-1 3/8" wide handle. You'll just be making up for more thickness in the handle to tiller it correctly. And a properly tillered bend in the handle bow will only start to really bend in the last couple inches of draw or right at full draw,and if done right it won't take any significant set there and will be as durable as anything else.

[PatM]

The reason draw length shrinks under actual shooting conditions is because the bow weight will cause the body structures to collapse somewhat under the pressure.
 As BH says it's perfectly feasible to blend the flatbow limb with a more longbow style handle. That's a typical West Coast style.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Keep in mind bendys usually remove 1" or so of thickness from the handle area effectivley shortening your draw equally.

The best way I have found to measure draw lenght accuratley is to clip a clothe spin on an arrow and draw the bow until the clothes pin hits the front of the bow, measure from the throat of the nock to the back side of the clothes pin and thats your actual drawn bow length. Im 6' 2" with long arms adn I cant get 28" for a bow unless I go beyond the corner of my mouth.

[Matt A]

still get about 30-30.25 blackhawks method 

[steve b.]

Good luck, Matt.  If you want to post some pics you could email them to me and I'll post them.  Let me know.

[Matt A]

no camera or iphone on hand i could send you some from my phone to yours if that works

[steve b.]

Figures--I can't do pics on the phone.  Find someone to do the pics for you.........