Getting the itch...

[ishiwannabe]

I have roughed out two bows, never to finish either. One broke and one was finished by my buddy.
I have access to almost all of the bow wood that grows locally....hickory, ash, elm, locust, mulberry....gonna have to wait a decade or so for my osage saplings.
I want a shorter bow-what are my options? Something thats easily carried and pointed. My goal poundage would be 55# at 28" and I draw almost exactly 28.
I am sure I could steal some bamboo to back it with from a good buddy.
What I need is to pick your brains. How short of a self bow can I get away with? What type of wood(Im leaning towards hickory)? Lastly- what type of bow would you bowyers recommend? Recurved tips? Longbow? Flatbow? Length?
As far as tools, I have a draw knife or two, two spoke shaves and numerous rasps including a ferrier's. I do need to get a vise of some sort.
I think Im ready to build my first bow. Point me in the right direction if you would.
Thanks in advance for all your help.

[Pat B]

I would suggest you start off with a longer bow and learn to tiller correctly. Short bows are easily over stressed and that will lead to frustration for you. For your 28" draw I would recommend a bow of 66" to 68" and straight limbs.
Follow George Tsokoulas' instructions and as you improve on your tillering you can begin to get shorter until you get to where you want to be.
   I have hunted with bows from 60" up to 72" and never had problems with any. I hunt from a tree stand mostly. Just make sure you have good clearance around your stand and a long bow works as well as a short one and is more forgiving to shoot.  Pat

[snapper1d]

Same as pat.the mulberry is a first cousin to osage and is similar.Not quite as good but close.I think the hickory and elm are some of the easiest to start with.

[No-sage]

Originally posted by ishiwannabe:
 Point me in the right direction if you would.

Drive north to Niskayuna.  

[George Tsoukalas]

Thanks, Pat. Hickory is a good wood to start your bow making. You can go 1.5 to 1.75 in wide and make it 66 inches nock to nock with. Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni

[ishiwannabe]

Thanks everyone. George, love the pages. A lot of GREAT stuff there, I have been checking it out for a while now...

Keith, thats some funny stuff right there. I plan to. Just need to figure out when.

[Roy Steele]

66"to68"Hickory 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 at fade outs slow'ly taper down to 1",6"s down from the nocks tapering them down to 3/8,s inch leave this part heavey enough to keep it stiff.
 Tiller from your 6" mark down to your fade outs.
 It would be hard to mess this up if you start out with a good stave.

[ishiwannabe]

Thanks Roy....been doing some research, and thats about what I figured.
Seriously thinking about bamboo backing....

How much does that change the design options?