Need some wise counsel...

[Looper]

I'm wanting to build a selfbow and am leaning towards osage. My understanding is that I'll need to build it around 70" to accommodate my long draw (31").  Would 72" be better? Is there such a thing as too long for a selfbow?

[Rain Man]

If you need to stand on stilts to shoot it, it's probably too long... unless you are currently, or have been previously, a circus clown.

[longbowhntr]

Depending on your bow making experience I think you could get away with a 65-66" ntn bow. maybe alittle shorter if you flipped the tips to help with string angle.
A 72" osage stick is alot of mass to move on release and I think its going rob some performance from you.

Now lets see what some of the "wise" folks think.

Good luck sir, David

[Uncle Buck]

I am not an expert by any means, but I think if you are of average hieght you could shoot a bow that long I have shot several older 72" longbows without a problem. I am only 67" tall but in my shooting stance the bottom of my left hand is approx 53" from the ground. As for the performance issues of a longer bow, I am not knowledgable enough to comment.

[Eric Krewson]

66" NTN would handle your draw, 68" would be better for your first time attempt.

[John Scifres]

I agree with Eric on your first build.  Make it 68".  Anything longer is a real challenge design-wise to make it efficient and pleasant to shoot.  I have made 66" bows for 30" draws.

If you have access to the Traditional Bowyer's Bibles, Jim Hamm describes a bow he likes that has a longish non-bending center with the bend concentrated out towards the ends of the limbs.  I think he describes it as if it is a normal osage bow, cut in half with a stiff section glued in the middle.  It looks whip tillered but is not.

[Looper]

I'll try a 68". Any suggestions on who to get a good stave from?  I see several advertised in Traditional Bowhunter.

[George Tsoukalas]

Go longer, my friend. Some of the bowyers who posted above  may be able to pull off  a shorter bow but they are experineced. I helped a friend build an osage bow. He has a 33 in draw. I made the bow 72" and needed every bit of that. A good rule is double your draw and add at least 10 inch for a rigid handle bow. Do make sure you have a 31 inch draw with a prim/trad bow and not a compound. Jawge

[Looper]

I haven't shot a compound in 10 years, and with my last one, my draw was 32.5", using a release.  My draw is 31" with a Hill longbow. I've got a 64" BBO that I tillered to 30", but it's definitely too short. I short draw it, which I don't like to do.  At 30", the string angle is too much.  It's a nice, fast bow, but I just don't shoot it much.

Would I be better off staying with a BBO? Maybe a 68"?

[limbcracker]

The most efficient bow in the TBB bow contest was 76" long if I recall.  In my experience with 150+ wood bows, Shorter bows compress belly wood, leading to more string follow, and lower performance, not to mention instability and string pinch. I have shortened several bows from 68" to 66", increasing their draw weight by 2-3lbs, only to find out when I shot them over a chronograph, that they shot exactly the same speed as before, I just had to pull harder to get there!  Longer bows are also more inherently stable, and not really a hinderance anywhere except a tree stand. If I was you, I would build a 72" or longer bow with 6 inch stiff tips. See how you like to shoot it, and if you want more weight or less length, shorten it two inches and try again.