how long of a draw length can I get away with?

[Sidewinder]

There is some serious ecperience chimming in here. I think we are gonna learn something if were not careful.  Look forward to it.   Danny

[Keenan]

Excellent point Hillbilly, It's good to keep in mind that each wood has it's design and stress limits and going short always pushes that window for success.  Little short kid bows have been some of the hardest that I have made.

[brownhillboy]

Part of the reason I was asking this question was to see if I just need to aim for a kid's bow.  I recently made a maple bow for my 7yr. old son, and my 11yr. old son wants another (like he doesn't have enough already).LOL. Of course I can't say much either!  On the other hand, all of the bows I've made for myself that were around 50# at my draw length, he could still shoot at his draw length.  All of those bows were 62"ntn or longer.

[Pappy]

I agree with Hillbilly,it's possible but it dose put a bigger chance for failure.I make a few
short bows just to push the limit some,not bragging but I have built a few bows and have
plenty to shoot so if it goes bad it ant the end of the world.Most of mine are 62/64 that
I build to hunt and shoot a lot with.As for my first several I always went 66 to 70 you can
learn a lot about tiller and then once you get that down pat you can push the limits some.
I know how I felt about my first bows,it is a heart breaker when they blow,I don't like
it now but I am over it in an hour or less and it sure don't make me want to quit or give up
like the first ones did.Plus I find the short ones harder to shoot.
     Pappy

[brownhillboy]

I would like to thank everyone for their input and hopefully I'll have a working bow to show you before to much longer.  I would also like to respectfully say that just because someone doesn't post very often, or asks a question, doesn't mean that they are making their first bow.  Although I am no expert, this is certainly not my first bow.  Sometimes people ask questions just to see if other people's opinions back up their own.  I'm not sure why a lot of people assume that if you're asking a question, that you're making your first bow.  I doubt that any of us could say that we knew it all even after several years of making bows.  Any way that's my 2 cents worth.  Thanks for all of the responses.  By the way, the very 1st bow I ever made was a bend through the handle with fades!  Maybe it was just beginner's luck. We'll see!

[Hillbilly]

Brownhillboy, I apologise if my post came across that way, it wasn't intended like that. That was just a random thought that popped into my head while I was typing-that's why I mentioned that I wasn't referring specifically to you. And unless you tell us a bit about yourself, it's hard to know exactly where you're coming from-with close to 1,500 members on here I'm doing good to remember anything about someone who posts every day. Again I apologise if I said anything that seemed condescending, because it certainly wasn't meant that way. I'm certainly no expert myself, I make one that doesn't break every now and then; but many of the guys on here have already forgotten more about bow building than I'll ever know in my life.

[brownhillboy]

Thanks Hillbilly.  No offense taken.  It's something I've noticed from reading other people's threads too.  Sometimes I accuse my wife of being over-sensitive.  Maybe she's not the only one!LOL.

[shamus]

Like George said, unless you are an exceptional bowyer it is nearly impossible to get a narrowed handle bending without exploding.

I have to disagree there. My coffee is still kicking in, but I'm sure George did not mean that. Narrowed handle bows break at the fades if you do the fades wrong. More on that on my site: http://analogperiphery.blogspot.com/2007/03/selfbow-handle-dimensions.html

...but now that I look at things again (and coffee wakes me up some more ) : yes, you really can't have a narrowed handle bending at the the fades. Narrowed handles bows are usually stiff. Bending at the fades equals a broken bow.

At 52" the bow could be drawn 25" inches IF it bends through the handle. Stiffen the handle, and the draw length shortens up quite a bit. More on selfbow length: http://analogperiphery.blogspot.com/2008/06/selfbow-length.html

Also, 1.5" is too narrow for a hickory bow, and way too narrow for a pyramid bow.

What you have there is a kid's bow blank.

[Hillbilly]

Also, 1.5" is too narrow for a hickory bow

I wouldn't completely agree with that-I used to follow that line of thinking too, but I've seen too many nice hickory bows that were 1 1/2" or narrower. With a stiff handled bow, you may be right unless you add some length, but I saw several people at the TN Classic last year cranking out good shooting hickory bows that were about 1 1/2" wide at the fades. Bendy-handled bows are a different story, also. A 1"-1 1/4" wide bending-handle hickory bow was pretty standard armament for the Northeastern tribes.

[Shooter_G22]

shamus,

   i beg to differ,   i dont know much by no means!  but i believe that brownhilbilly could make a nice bow from a 52" blank and it not turn out a kids bow....   the reason i believe this is becuase i almost did it and it was like my 3rd attempt on making a board bow with pecan... and pecan is close to hickery but not quite as good...   and if i came very close to making a bow @ that length with a 26 - 27 " draw i know it is possible...  i didnt way it cause at the time didnt have a scale but my guess would be somewhere over 45#'s  and i got it made up with out a backing and the only reason i dont have that bow now is cuase i started out trying to make bows before i stumbled across this web site...   and i had that bow made up and shot it over a hundred times and it was good until i started trying to finish it with poly and then i decided to shot it with my long arrows and started trying to get 28-29" draw and only then did it splinter and go to hell...   had i known that a 26" draw was ok to have for a shorty id still have that bow and be shooting it more often than the rest cuase i really liked the shorty... sooo i might have been very lucky but if someone with a lot more experiance than a first time bower, with only only a few bows under them and only one that has turned out ok, should for sure be able to turn out a 52" bow with hunting capailities...
and it not be a youth bow...

i would think that it is very posible...  in fact i have a piece of borad that is 52" in pecan that i was saving to give it another attempt after i get some more experaince ...

[brownhillboy]

Shamus, as soon as I figure everything out on this new computer, I'll post a picture of a bow that bends through the fades and handle and is make out of oak no less.  Almost nothing is absolute.  My wife as been shooting this bow for over 2 years.

[shamus]

Thanks to brownhillboy, Shooter,  and Hillbilly for getting me thinking about this. Excellent points, and it got me thinking.

Yes, you can get a hunting weight bow out of a 52" hickory blank, but getting a draw length past 25" would be stressing things a bit. You have to creative with your design.

and that reminds me (smacks forehead);  I  mentioned a 54" bow in a PA article (Bowyery in the 1930s) a few years back that drew 50#@28". So It IS possible to get a long draw out of a short bow. This bow was a 2" wide recurved yew flatbow. The diagram is in that article. I'm not sure it would have worked or not, but I figured it's possible. I think this bow worked because it had more width than usually called for with yew.

man, I totally forgot about that short bow. 

[brownhillboy]

Here's one of the pics of the bend through the handle bow with a narrow handle.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[brownhillboy]

The handle.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[brownhillboy]

I'm surprised that there have been no comments about the bow that I posted pictures of on Sat.  Some said it couldn't be done, but if I did it on my first attempt then it really can't be that hard because I'm definetly not that good!