red oak board bow questions

[Ian johnson]

my buddy just made a red oak board bow but the tips were huge and it had a lot of shock, so on mine, if I'm shooting for somewhere around 50pounds and it will have tip overlays, how narrow and how thin would you guys reccomend I make them?, and how long of a piece should I glue on for the handle?, also, would olive wood work well as a glue on handle?

thanks, Ian

[Pat B]

Ivan, wood is 8 times stronger in thickness than it is in width. I make tips thick then reduce the width to reduce the physical weight, which is a cause of shock, without loosing the stiffness. Later you can reduce the thickness to a point just before it bends. The end results can be 3/8" or less in width and about 1/2" in thickness. This is not set in stone so a bit of experimentation on your part will be necessary. This isn't something you should be concerned about now. Leave the tips wide and thick until you get the tillering done. Then you can play with the width and thickness to come up with an acceptable top and side profile.
  For the handle length, that depends on your design. The type of handle I prefer has very little riser if any and some make their risers 8" to 10" long.
  Have you read George Tsoukalas' website? He covers every aspect of building a board bow and it will answer many of your questions.

[tim-flood]

this is a great place to start.

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000043

[George Tsoukalas]

Thanks, Pat. Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/