hickory stave too narrow?

[tsa yo ga]

hey ya'll
i need some advice.  i have a stave of hickory roughed out and drying.  it is hickory and only a hair over an inch in width and about 60" long.  it was a sapling and it is the best start i've made yet.  is it too narrow?  i am hoping it will become a bow, not just more kinlin.

[Mechslasher]

it would make a perfect eastern woodlands d bow.

[adb]

At that narrow width, it'll probably take a fair bit of set. Is the stave dead straight? If you lose anymore width when you cut your profile, it won't help. I usually make my hickory bows (self or backed) at least 1.5" at the fadse, sometimes wider. 1" would be OK with osage. That said, give your stave a go... why not?!

[Woodland Roamer]

Yep just right for a good D bow.

Alan

[Papa Matt]

Tsa Go Ya, that's fine ol boy. Go for it. I have a short version of an eastern woodlans D bow, that's 48" long, only about an inch wide. Pulls 45lbs at 20" and never did take much set. I don't see any problem with your stave-just don't take it any narrower than that, except at the tips.

~~Papa Matt

[Bowbound]

Well ya can't put the wood back on! Leave it as wide as it is now an hope for the best. Tillered to a D bow and you might get away with little set.

[Hillbilly]

We made a Community Bow a couple years ago that was a replica of a Cayuga eastern Woodlands deflex/reflex design. It was red hickory,  about 60" long, 1 1/16" wide, and pulled in the high 50's at 28" without excessive set. Make it bend through the handle and heat in a little reflex before tillering.




 

[sailordad]

thats a nice looking bow there hillbilly

[Kegan]

As Hillbilly said, temper the belly, and you won't have a problem, especially when it's a nice D bow. Hickory's a geat wood so long as you manage to get it dry enough.

[1/2primitive]

I think it would work perfectly. I haven't had a whole lot of experience with Hickory, but theoretically the high crown on the back should be great. I've heard that Hickory's back can overpower the belly, causing excessive set. With a high crown bow, this would even out.
I say go for it.
      Sean

[Pappy]

I have made a few just like that out of saplings about 60 inches and bend through the handle
that turned out in the low 50's @26 and didn't take a lot of set.I just split it down the middle and had a flat belly and crowed back.It worked fine,like adb I usually ,when I have enough wood
make them 1 1/2 to 1 5/8 but you have to use what you have.Go for it.Just make sure you
keep the hickory dry and tiller slow in several sessions and it should make a fine bow.
   Pappy

[Hillbilly]

thats a nice looking bow there hillbilly

SD, all I did on that one was cut the stave and rough out the profile. Pat bent the curves into it, Marc St. Louis tillered it, Minuteman fine-tuned and sanded it, and Mullet did the finish and decoration. It turned out to be a good shooter, it's a pretty close replica of a Cayuga bow in the Encyclopedia of Native American Bows, Arrows, and Quivers. There's an article about the building of it in the Summer 2006 (vol 14 issue 2) PA.

[sailordad]

h.b. you all did a fine job making that one then,simply 

[shamus]

too narrow, too short.

maybe if you made a D bow with a flat belly, and kept the draw length under 27", you might be okay.

otherwise, I'd make a woman's or a kid's bow out of it.

[tsa yo ga]

 Thanks for the input everybody.  The stave will stay 1'' wide and i will go slowly with the tillering.  I have a good feeling about it, it might be my first hunting weight bow.  It has some natural reflex and is fairly straight, one end does bend a bit.  I will attempt to temper the belly, could someone let me know how that works?  It is bending, but not much.  I will post some pics soon if my better half can figure that out.  thanks again for the encouragement.  Jay