advice needed

[TroyH]

I'm going to build an osage self bow for the guy who lets me cut osage from his land.  He has told me that his draw is 31", he does have long arms, and the bow will hopefully pull around 55# at that draw.
I like a 4" handle and 2" fades, so give me some length and width dimensions I should work with.
My guess on length given his draw length would be a bow not less than 70".
What do you think about length and layout?

[John Scifres]

If he is talking a compound draw, I'd bet his draw is more like 29" with a trad bow.

Make the tips narrow and as light as possible or that long of a bow will thump him hard enough to shake loose the fillings in his teeth  

I made a bow for a true 29" draw and made it 68" NTN.  It was 65# if I remember right.  If I was making it today, I'd probably go with 66" but I'm a much better bowyer now than I was then - hehehe.

[George Tsoukalas]

I made a bow with a friend. He wanted to learn. He has a 33 in draw. We made it 72 in ntn it has an 8 in non bending handle- 4 in handle, 2 in fades. Jawge

[George Tsoukalas]

I bet your friend win't even draw a selfbow 29 in but he may. Pastor, your measurements sound right on. Jawge

[walkabout]

i draw 31-32 on a compound but with a trad bow anywhere from 28 to 30 inch. i usually shoot for around 68 inches in length for my bows. ive found that depending on whether i draw quickly on game or pick my shots my draw length varies, sometimes i lean in an inch or so and sometimes ill open up my chest and use my back to really steady myself.

[frank bullitt]

Pastor, check out Joe's, Osagetree, post of the Big Osage bow! Good diamensions to follow and beautiful tiller!

Like John says, you could get a shorter length to work, especially with osage, as your "tillering eye" experiences more!

[Ricky S.]

At a 31" draw I would say keep the bow no longer than 68".That would be plenty long and should accomidate him.You can always start long incase you shoot past your target weight and shorten the bow little at a time to get to your desired weight.I used to do this until I became a more skilled bowyer.I am not saying your not skilled Paster I dont know where your skill level is and it used to help me thats all I mean.
Good Luck & God Bless.

[scottm]

What walkabout said is the same for me.

[Art B]

Choosing the correct design for long draw lengths should be considered. Especially using Osage. Once you get up to 66" long with this wood you will need to consider that "thump" factor John mentioned. And the more you get the limbs bending to accomodate a longer draw the more limb vibrations/deformation you will encounter IMO.

I'm working on an Osage long bow for my nephew at the moment with similar concerns. I'm going with a semi-pryamid design with 1 1/2" limb width at fades straight to 1/2" tips. Looking for 55# @ 28" but will tiller to 30" and it's 65" ntn. I reflexed the limbs from mid-limb to tips to help stiffen that area against limb deformation. And with a more circular profile, I think 30" is obtainable. Good luck with yours......ART