Hackberry fans: Advice please

[smoke]

Folks, I have a very nice hackberry stave but it is a tad narrow.  66" long but only about 1.3" wide.  I wanted to make a bend through the handle, 60# @ 28 selfie . . . what do you think?  Am I safe with the wood or should I shorten it and put sinew on it?  Your wisdom is appreciated!

[PEARL DRUMS]

Id make what you want from it. 64" ttt is good, and if you do nothing else? Temper it and add
3-4" of reflex while your at it. That's my .02 cents

[Pappy]

Should be fine,depending on the weight you want,probably ant going to get much more than maybe mid 40's at that length and width.    I would keep that width to at least mid lim. Just be sure it is dry and keep it that way through tillering and go slow,it can go away pretty quick from my expenence.
   Pappy

[Joec123able]

I don't see why you would put sinew on hackberry it bends like rubber on its own all you have to worry about is its compression strenth And it wanting to take more set on you

[SLIMBOB]

+1 Pappy.  Keep your width mid limb or more.  45-50 is what I would shoot for.  Temper early at floor tiller, and temper again as the color disappears.

[PEARL DRUMS]

 Sinew and hackberry work great together, Ive done it.

[blackhawk]

Me personally I'd run that 1.3" of width out past mid limb to at least 2/3 of the limb before starting to taper...and please do temper it before serious bending..

[smoke]

Thanks guys - your views are, as always, insightful and useful!

[beetlebailey1977]

Go with it........keep as much of the width as you can.  The 66" is plenty......you could even shorten it up a few.

[Josh B]

I don't see why you would put sinew on hackberry it bends like rubber on its own all you have to worry about is its compression strenth And it wanting to take more set on you

I'm hesitant to mention this Joe because there's no way I can put it in words how the physics works, but sinew actually relieves stress on the belly.  It really is magical stuff that does far more than keep the back together.  I hate to leave it like that without being able to explain how it works, but there you have it.  Josh

[PEARL DRUMS]

It shifts the neutral plane towards the back of the bow easing up the bellys work load.

[smoke]

Now you've got me thinking . . . I really would like to get this thing up to 60# and frankly, my skill level is still fairly low.  With that in mind, wouldn't sinew be my best bet?

[PEARL DRUMS]

Sinew is never the answer for that in my opinion smoke. If you don't feel you can tiller out a 60# unbacked bow? You probably wont be able to do it backed either. The key to getting a draw weight within a pound or so is getting the floor tiller dead nutz and low bracing the bow early on. Then reduce and tweak down to an exact number you have in mind.

[sweeney3]

Drop your weight expectations by 20 pounds.  Mid 40s tops.  But otherwise, yeah, should be fine.  And that will be plenty enough to handle most hunting chores.

[Josh B]

I have to agree with Pearlie.  Sinewing is a whole other bag of tricks to learn.  It's best to get the basics down on simpler builds first.  If you can keep all your length and width, you should have plenty of wood to do what you want.  I also recommend heat tempering the belly on hackberry.  I was only talking about the sinew in an effort to help Joe understand that there's much more to sinew than what it would seem.  Admittedly, I did a poor job of it.  Lol!  Josh