Kid's hickory r/d. Advice welcomed!

[sfguitarworks]

Hi gang,

Great site. I've been lurking a while. I'm building a hickory backed hickory r/d bow with my daughter for her 8th birthday, and I'd love any advice. She currently shoots a pse lil'razorback, 54", 16lbs at 24". Her draw is about 19. I'd like her new bow to pull 20@24" to help with her arrow trajectory. My questions are-

For such a light bow, how thick would you make the back to avoid blowing through the belly when tillering?
I want to cut it a bit past center with a fairly tall window, like her pse. Concerns?
What do I have to do to the tips to make it fast flight compatible?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Take care,

Geoff

[Pat B]

You might have a hard time getting a backed, R/D bow down to 20#. You can shape a selfbow into a R/D shape with heat. Also, at that weight I doubt FF string will hurt the tips but you can always add tip overlays out of antler or hardwood. I've never cut a bow to center shot so I can't help you there.

[sfguitarworks]

Thanks Pat, I'm planning to just have the back and belly be like two veneers really, so I was wondering if anyone could give me a general idea of the final thickness of a lightweight hickory limb. The limbs will start 1.5 inches wide, so do you guys think I'll end up 1/8 thick? 1/4? Having never done this, I'm just looking for a general spec for a 20lb pull. Thanks for the help!

[Pat B]

I never check thickness but tiller down until I get the weight at the draw I'm heading for. Start with 1/8" belly and a back thinner then that. After that you'll just have to tiller it down to the desired weight.

[Pat B]

Look at zeroready's post about the backed bow he built for his son. He should be able to give you better info for a kids bow.