Osage kids bow in the works...

[Cloudfeather]

Ok, this is only the second kids bow I've made and I wanted a bit of input. It's for a 7 yr old girl and I'm kind of using my 9 yr old niece as a frame of reference. I had some smaller pieces from the seasoned Osage haul and I'm putting it to good use.

What I've got so far: 49 inch long Osage stave roughed out( bit of character). 4 inch handle, 1 1/2 inch fades, 21 inches of working limb on each side. It's 1 1/2" wide at the fades and stays full width until mid limb where it tapers to half inch wide at the tips. I was thinking making it about 1/2 thick at the fade and tapering to about 3/8 at the tip, then going from there. Just wanted to get another bit of input before I proceeded. I'm hoping to make this bow so she can grow into it for a couple years if possible. I figured Osage would be the best candidate for it.

Thanks in advance for the input, fellas.

[Drewster]

Hey Sled, 4" is probably a little big for the handle.    3 1/2" would be better and still allow for some growth.  Even a 10 or 11 year old would be OK with a 3 1/2" handle.  My wife is a small lady but her bow has a 3 1/2" handle.  And 1 1/4" would be fine for the limb width.......especially on a kids bow.  Hope this is helpful.  Have fun.  It's a great thing to get kids involved in archery at a young age.

[Cloudfeather]

Thank you. Yea, I'm hoping it'll have a positive impact.

[Drewster]

A family friend made me a stick and string dogwood bow when I was 10 and it's affected me for the past 56 years :-)

[Josh B]

I agree with what Drewster gave for dimensions.  I would shoot for no more than 10or 12 pounds at 18".  You can design and tiller it for more so there's room to grow of course.  But at 18" , 10 lbs. Will be easier for the 7 yr old to shoot and learn the basics.  The last thing that you want to do is make it too strong.  BTW.  1/4" dowels make pretty good arrows for that draw weight and length as well.  Ramin wood works, but red oak is better.  Josh