59" hickory

[TroutGuide]

I have a 59" hickory stave to floor tiller, my first full size build.  It is just bark removed to the whitewood.  Almost 2 inch at the fades out to 8 inch form the tip and tapred from there and has a 10 inch stiff handle.  So what draw length could I get out of this and how much weight should I shoot for.  I realy just want to make a shootable bow wihtout backing it and then work on a better stave later.  So what would be a safe bet for this bow.  It does have a little prop twist as well but I will work with or around this feature.

[Pat B]

Half the bow length minus about 10% is doable but stretching it. You should be able to get 40# to 50# out of it.

[TroutGuide]

So about 26" at 40 lb  That would be great.  If I made it weaker could I stretch it out to 28" or will it still be to much bend not just stress from the draw weight?

[Art B]

I believe a pryamid design, with it's circular drawn profile, will allow your bow to open up more and provide you a longer draw. 50-55# easy if good hickory.......Art

[John Scifres]

Remember you will lose at least an inch for your nock.  So you have 58" nock-to-nock.  It might help if you can shorten your handles and your fades.  I have gone as short as a 3" handle and 1-1/2" fades.  Short bows almost require stiffer flipped or recurved tips to keep string angle and stacking down so you will lose about 10" of working limb out there.  That leaves you with a max of maybe 42" (58"NTN minus 10" stiff tips minus 6" rigid handle).

You can try to get 28" of draw out of it.  It's very aggressive but give it a go.  Show us the results.  If you can stomach a bend-in-the-handle bow, you might make your job easier.  Experimenting is fun!

[TroutGuide]

Sounds like I have a chance to make this one work out like I hoped 45@28.  The handle and fades are already shaped all that is left now is tillering to weight and draw so it sounds risky but possible.  If it breaks I plan on cutting more hickory, oasge, and mulberry in about 2 weeks so I will have lots more to play with.  I will let you know how it turnes out.  Thanks for the input.

[okie64]

Probably wont break being its hickory. But it might take a lot of set. Good Luck