How far, how fast?

[StickMark]

Hickory board, with two courses of sinew on back, with a thick center strip, so 2.5 courses of sinew?
NTN is 59", with bendy handle.
1.35/8 " or   say a generous 1 and 3/8" handle.
That width stays for about 9.5 ", and then over next 20", tapers to 1/2 inch tips. Stiff tips for last 4" about.
thickness is 0.5" at center gradually changing to 3/8" towards tips.
(back is gently trapped, if that matters for calculations)

[sleek]

I'm very sorry, but this works only for self bows. No laminate or sinew. Too many variables, I could never figure that out.

[StickMark]

Sleek, how about this simple white oak bow.
White oak board:
60" NTN
4" handle, with 1 and 3/8 " width.
At fades, 1 and 6/8", going 11 ", and then
tapering to 6/8" tips. for that 17"'s. 
Bends in handle, slightly, with tips stiff about 4 inches. 4
Thickness:
6/8" at center, gradually thinning to generous 2.5/8", then thicker at tips.

Sleek, I am fascinated by that statement that we underbuild our bows. 

[superdav95]

Ok so my math may be off.  Sorry about that.  From center of symmetrical bow.  4.5”+ 12” at 1.75”+ 8” tapered to 1.5” + 3.5” tapered to 1”+ 4” tapered
To .5”  at tips. 

I’m in process of building this bow aiming for 50lbs at 28” draw.  Thanks 

[sleek]

Sleek, how about this simple white oak bow.
White oak board:
60" NTN
4" handle, with 1 and 3/8 " width.
At fades, 1 and 6/8", going 11 ", and then
tapering to 6/8" tips. for that 17"'s. 
Bends in handle, slightly, with tips stiff about 4 inches. 4
Thickness:
6/8" at center, gradually thinning to generous 2.5/8", then thicker at tips.

Sleek, I am fascinated by that statement that we underbuild our bows.

So white oak has lots of variation within its species. Up to 23% I went for its average properties and got a draw weight of 45 pounds. How heavy is the bow and what set did it take?

If a bow took set, it was underbuilt unless it has a bad tiller, but even then, it was underbuilt for that tiller profile. So yes, most people underbuild their bows by those standards.

[StickMark]

35 pounds
Set: 1.25"; 0.75"
I underbuilt.

And I think it just was a slightly weak piece

[WhistlingBadger]

Example: 
Wood type: Balsa
Nock to nock 62 inches
8 inch handle
6 inch stiff tips
1.5 inches wide at the fade for 3 inches past the fade
1.25 inches wide at 4 inches past the fade
Even taper to .5 inches wide 18 inches from fade
6 inch Stiff tips after 18 inches

Thanks for this offer, Sleek!!  I can't take you up on it as I don't have any self-bows in the pipeline at the moment--I'm experimenting with sinew and dogbane backings on all my current projects.  But now I feel this weird emotional need for someone to build a 62", balsa wood bow with an 8" handle and 6" levers...

[sleek]

35 pounds
Set: 1.25"; 0.75"
I underbuilt.

And I think it just was a slightly weak piece

If you drop the 23% of white oaks range, 23% of 45 pounds is 34 pounds. White oak has such a huge range from essentially a rubber tree all the way to stout as osage, it would require a test of that wood to know what to expect. Also did you heat treat the bow? White woods soak moisture like a sponge and moisture content in any bow will cause set. If you haven't heat treated it, perhaps try that and let me know if that makes the difference?

Like I said, this is a learning experience and I'd not considered that a single species would vary over 60% within its own species. For example, is density ranges from .55 to .83, a 66% difference.

[StickMark]

Heat treated the heck out of it.
But, this build i attempted to try the tracing method. Outlining on paper.  (1.25 set is on bottom limb. I string it w step through method.)
I went too ⁷far with sanding, those dreaded adjustments that i do at the end; your observation of underbuilding comes in play here, as leaving more wood to handle the final adjustments would have given me 43, 45 #.
I have a piece from same board, shorter by 8 ".
I am going to finish it today, but leave it much "stouter" in build: semi bendy handle, but wider. Will heat treat through out build, and get back w results.

[sleek]

Heat treated the heck out of it.
But, this build i attempted to try the tracing method. Outlining on paper.  (1.25 set is on bottom limb. I string it w step through method.)
I went too ⁷far with sanding, those dreaded adjustments that i do at the end; your observation of underbuilding comes in play here, as leaving more wood to handle the final adjustments would have given me 43, 45 #.
I have a piece from same board, shorter by 8 ".
I am going to finish it today, but leave it much "stouter" in build: semi bendy handle, but wider. Will heat treat through out build, and get back w results.

How a bow is handled over its life will case set  I can't account for, such as the step through method over stressing the lower limb like you mentioned. This method I'm using is good for a fresh dry bow, that won't take set under normal conditions.

Your next bow being 8 " shorter will stress it more,  You will need more width through more of the bow to compensate 

[StickMark]

Starting on 2" wide on this particular piece.
I am happy with the set on the above mentioned bow, in that I am getting better at this.
Amazingly enough, on my penetration test, that 35#bow does close to a 41# bow, same arrow (14.5 gpp vs 12.5 gpp, respectively.)

[Hamish]

StickMark. Have you changed your stringing method?

Step through is only appropriate for composite recurve bows, as they are a lot more resilient than all wood bows. I cringe anytime I see someone do that with their self bow. To try that when attempting to first string a bow, can leave an excess of set in the lower limb that sometimes the upper limb will never catch up with. This is fundamental to wooden bowyering.

A bow stringer is the best option, at least when first trying to get a string on the bow, as it, is more even with stresses. Then push/pull when its string able by hand.

[StickMark]

Hamish,

I need to go back to the bow stringer method. Around 2019, I built a second set of nocks into three bows, for a homemade 550 paracord stringer. Could use it in the desert scrub, by just placing the bow on a hat that was on the ground to avoid roughing up the back. Looking back, it worked, and I just got lazy.

The 35 pounder bow might have been more even then, with a stringer, and I can live with 3/4" set.

Will be a while before I first brace this shorter piece of white oak, and I will relay dimensions and set, etc,...and add that data to this thread. I appreciate this type of research.