hazel stave youths bow

[stuckinthemud]

Hi All,

My son is 14 years old and currently shoots (at the range) a 20lb (at 24") club training bow.  I have roughed out a hazel stave to 60 inch length and 1.25" width at the fades. The thickness of the stick is currently 3/4" (20mm).  The weight of the bow will need to be SUBSTANTIALLY reduced now I have reached floor-tillering.  My question is how much thickness/width is a safe minimum as I aiming for 25lb at 25inch draw?

Thanks
Stuck

[bowmo]

Well if you planning on keeping it 60" long  at that draw weight/length you can make it as narrow as you want, tho that might be a bit long for a child. The thickness isn't something you should view as a number tho, what ever thickness it a bows ends up is just product of removing wood to achieve the draw weight you are looking for.

[bubby]

I think that length is fine for a 14 year old, i think you will end up about 3/8" thick when all is said and done
What design are you building?

[stuckinthemud]

The child concerned will be able to look me in the eye by next Autumn!  I was looking to make a flat bow, the stave was 3inch diameter and so the bow is not particularly high crowned, but I could be tempted to hollow the limbs a little if the eventual thickness means that the sides meet the crown and the draw weight is still too high.

[Del the cat]

Go about 2" wide, if the draw weight is too high and you can't go thinner without losing width you can run a spokeshave down the back and decrown it. Or go down to about 1.5" Personally I'd keep it w-i-d-e 
Don't go shorter and keep the grip short to maximise the working limb length as insurance against helpful "friends" overdrawing it...
Del

[stuckinthemud]

Hi Del,

I understand the keeping it wide thing is important with hazel, hadn't thought about reducing the grip length - was going for a six-inch grip (including fades), but I really like the curves on the crown and would rather not de-crown if at all possible, I have the tools needed to hollow the limb, what are the pros and cons??

[Del the cat]

Hi Del,

I understand the keeping it wide thing is important with hazel, hadn't thought about reducing the grip length - was going for a six-inch grip (including fades), but I really like the curves on the crown and would rather not de-crown if at all possible, I have the tools needed to hollow the limb, what are the pros and cons??

Dunno, not done a hollowed limb, but I appreciate the desire to leave the back alone.
Hollowed limb sounds cool.... gotta give that a go.
Just measured a couple of mine and they are about 6" grip including fade... it's the ones with 4" below the arrow pass and another 4 inchesabove with another couple of inches of fade that waste a lot of wood.
Del

[stuckinthemud]

3/8 (13mm) was pretty much spot-on, so time to get the long string out.