Limb thickness

[DC]

Other than mass is there any reason not to have very thin limbs? I'm thinkin' selfbows mostly but I suppose you could include backed bows as long as the ratio of back to belly is OK.

[Badger]

   DC, a few years ago I built some extra wide limbed osage bows. The thickness came out quite a bit thinner than I had expected but my big shock was how low in mass the bows came out. This contradicts my entire mass theory so I really didn't know what to say about it.

[DC]

How did they shoot? Didn't Tim Baker make a Super Molle that had real wide thin limbs. If he did do you know how well it worked?

[liyeliye123123]

That's a good question! I also wanna ask does limb thickness has anything to do with the speed of the bow ?

[Badger]

How did they shoot? Didn't Tim Baker make a Super Molle that had real wide thin limbs. If he did do you know how well it worked?

   They were an experimental hinge bow with a very short working area and about 14" starting reflex. They broke down rapidly but did start off at some phenomenal speeds. Within about 10 shots they had lost most all of their power and ended up just average shooters.

[Badger]

  This limbs can disguise set. The tension wood will pull it back into shape even though the compression wood might be damaged. If the integrity of the wood is good thin limbs are great and will tend to take less set. 

[Stick Bender]

I made a short thin limb long handle molly type bow a while back out of hickory it was the fastest wood bow I ever made but broke down quickly & made a thin limbed 2 in wide maple/sinew bow that eventualy fretted but was fast ! There is probably a ballance point per species but dont no what it is !