Board bow, will this work

[Don Armstrong]

I am sure this will give everyone a good chuckle. I have made a 66" board bow out of a red oak board and it is turning out fairly good. This is where the hard headed part comes in . I want to make a board bow with a shelf cut somewhere close to center. I realize this a no no but sometimes I can't help myself. I was thinking if I glued a 1/4" oak backing from fade to fade, it might help support the shelf being cut in the handle. Am I full of it or could this be done. If not, is there any option to get a shelf on one of these bows. I really have a hard time shooting a trad bow not cut at least 1/8" from center. Thanks, Don

[Pat B]

Don, Center shot is not necessary for a good shooting bow. If you have a correctly spined arrow you can be just as accurate with a simple, relatively wide handled Eastern Woodland style bow as you can with a center shot bow.
   Self bows can successfully be made with cut out arrow shelves but an added on shelf would be more durable IMO. A bulbous handle, as per Torges, will give you a sturdy handle and with a small wedge of leather, wood, antler, etc you have the best of both worlds. I prefer to use a Ferret's floppy rest.
   Adding an overlay can help stiffen the handle area but if that area bends at all, the overlay will probably pop off. Pat

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I agree with Pat B. I have a board bow I cut in a shelf, but the next one won't have a cut in shelf...

[Don Armstrong]

I was afraid that would be the answer. I will try to shoot it without a shelf and see what happens. Thanks, Don

[SoNevada Archer]

Don,
try the cut out shelf...I too like a cut out, I don't shoot wood arrows because I have such a hard time keeping them from warping in the desert where I live. So fooling around with arrow spine is very expensive and frustrating for me. I shoot carbon arrows which have a wider spine range than aluminum, and are much easier for me to keep straight.
Build it, reinforce it, from the back and belly and see how it turns out!
Good luck!
Ron

[John Scifres]

All this really depends on what you want out of a wooden bow.  If you want to re-create your experience with more modern design, it is a simple matter of making your handle thicker and shaping the handle however you want.  If you are trying to move to something more like a traditional wooden bow design, you will have to adjust your expectations and shooting style and practice level.

There are no rules.  I assume you are doing this for fun.  So try whatever makes you happy.

[Dittybopper]

I say don't cut the window out.

This is one of my bows*, a hickory self-bow modeled after the Sudbury bow:

   

With properly spined arrows, it shoots just like a center-shot bow.

The handle is a simple piece of leather stitched on the bow, with a tiny wedge of oak forced into the top of the handle for an arrow rest.  I glued on some buckskin to the top of the wedge and for a 'strike plate'.  I was worried that the rest would move, but it has stayed rock solid without any adhesives.

*Bow was made by my father, but I made the whole handle thing, plus everything else in the picture.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

As John said make the handle thicker.
 
 

[deadpool]

dont dont and dont do it!
I wanted to have my already good shooting red oak bow even better, dumb mistake, the bow split in  half =[[[

i had the bow cremated shortly after