? about new ipe/boo bow

[plumbocop]

I just finnished a new ipe/boo flat profile longbow.  It is 60" long and 55# @ 26' back of the riser.  The cedar arrow weighs 430gr. and the bow chronographed at 148fps shooting this setup.  i thought this was quite good given my short draw.  Is this average for this setup?  The bow shoots great and is deadly quiet.  DW....

[TimZeigler]

"shoots great and is deadly quiet" sounds like a winner to me.  I wouldn't worry to much about speed; 148fps is not to shabby at all.

[Springbuck]

The rule of thumb, which has many exceptions, is that a wood bow will shoot about it's draw weight, plus 100 FPS at 28" draw, and somewhere in the 66-68" range..

  You lost a little speed to the short draw, but that is appropriate for the draw length..I think you did come in about average, or maybe just a tad better..

[DCM]

160 shooting 10 grains per pound, 22" power stroke, 3 grains per pound string is a "good" bow.  Power stroke is worth about 7 fps per inch.  Arrow mass is worth about 1 fps per 10 grains.

So, with adjustment for the arrow mass 550 - 430 = 120, 120/10 you would be at about 172 fps.  With adjustment for power stroke 2*7= 14 so you are down to 158, for a "good" bow.  148 ain't too shabby.  

"Good" bow is a hard thing to define.  My best r/d boo on bloodwood shot 170s as described.  Selfbows I'm happy with 160ish.  I've made dozens of all shapes and sizes over the last decade or so, have run a chrono off an on all along, had feedback from a broad range of shooters, and would consider myself in the top 20 percentile of amateur wood bowyers.

Chrono can be a great tool, but it's easy to become a slave to it.  Lots of stuff besides the chrono reading make a bow "good."

[Springbuck]

DCM, that was "good" info, at least!