So I threw together some el quickie arrows to fling from my recently completed red oak board bow and took it out with a friend to shot it in some more. At first it was a little hard to control, but increasing the brace height helped immensely (not sure why, if someone knows please enlighten me.)
The pics with my hands are for perspective, though yes, my hands look horrible. That's why I asked about easier methods to make the next bow. The opening is roughly 4", and almost completely obscured by privet hedge. I'll get a picture from a few feet back tomorrow for perspective.
I'm gonna try to get my wife to take a picture of me with it at full draw-I think I could use the critique.
But, these pics are here for an actual reason: thank you to the people who have answered my inane questions. This is extremely addictive.