center cut board bow?

[$bowhunter$]

im trying to build a board bow so right now im laying everything out and planning before i start cutting. my queastion is has anyone succesfully cut oe to center? looking at the build along it shows a floyys style off the hand rest which is alright but i perfer to have a built in shelf rest. has any one done this? if so could you exsplain how and possibly a picture? as of now im just scared ill mess up by cutting a shelf out and the bow woill blow up in my face. btw im planning on making it about 45lbs at my 31" draw if that makes a difference.


thanks,
steven

[Stiks-n-Strings]

You can cut a shelf in of you back it with hickory or boo. The choice on backing depends on what type of wood your bow is gonna be.

 You don't really want to waste good hickory or boo on something like a read oak board bow because the backing will over power the the belly and cause it to fret or break.

[$bowhunter$]

Well is there anything cheap I could back it in? I'm just building this to get my confidence up before attempting to take on a big full size ( more expensive) project


Steven

[okie64]

You can cut a shelf out as long as your board is thick enough. If your board is only 3/4" thick then no dont cut a shelf in it or it more than likely will break.  You can glue a handle on it to make it thick enough to cut a shelf in. Just be sure to blend yout glued on handle into the limbs at the fades or the handle can pop off. Ive cut shelves in almost all my bows including board bows.

[Pat B]

Why not add a shelf instead of cutting on into the bow. Board bows are very susceptable to splintering or cracking when you cut a shelf into them.
  And why a center shot? Properly spined arrows will fly well from a non-center cut bow and IMO making proper arrows is as important or even more important than the bow that is shooting them.

[George Tsoukalas]

What Pat said. Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[Eric Krewson]

I have to disagree with Kris. I have backed a bunch of red oak board bows with a strip of hickory, all are still shooting as far as I know, certainly not a waste of hickory.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Glad to hear that Eric, I'm glad we have the experience here that we have.

 I may give the ol' hickory backed red oak another try sometime.

 What weight range and style did you build?

[Pat B]

I'v made a few hickory backed red oak bow also, with good success. I'll bring "Cinco de Mayo" to the Classic for you to see and shoot, Kris. She's a pyramid bow pulling 53#@28" I think but I let anyone shoot it that wants to and I'm sure it has been pulled to 30" and still holds some reflex.

[Roy from Pa]

Pat, I'm not so sure stiks kin pull 53 pounds... Ya got any 30 pounders ?    

[PEARL DRUMS]

Hehehehehehehe! One day your just gonna come up missing Roybert Redford.

[Dimondback]

Here are some pics of one I built that is cut to center and backed with linen/TBIII. Because of my lack of tillering ability and being overly aggressive with a particular hand tool, it came in at a really light 25lbs. No issues what so ever and actually shoots quite well out to 20yds with a very lightly built arrow. Maybe I was just lucky? I was VERY selective when I selected my wood though and ended up learning alot on the build. It did take about 3 inches of set as well.

On your "how" question...I cut the window out with a band saw, the shelf with a hand saw and then did the final shaping with rasps, scrapers and sanding.
Good luck!
   
 

[Pat B]

Roy, I'll give him a hand! d;^)

[Art B]

You need to be smart about cutting in a window, especially to center. Personally, I wouldn't recommend cutting that far. What I think happens when you cut that far the axis between the two limbs becomes eskewed. Instead of the axis now running straight down the center of the limbs, it's now shifted to the off side of the window for the upper limb. Your grip will need to be adjusted for that IMO.

[LittleBen]

I've cut many of my bows near center. I try to avoid going all the way to center, but I don't sweat the details. I built a board bow for a friend out of silk backed red oak, cut all the way to center, it was about 65#. The trick was to have a built up handle. 2.25" thick total in the handle. That bow detonated but not at the handle.
I wouldn't worry as long as you're careful and you keep the handle 1.5" thick or more. especially in the cutaway area.
good luck.