Maple board bow design - Help needed!

[AZ_Shooter]

I picked up a good 1.5" x 72" maple board from Home Depot, and I need some help with the design.  I am hoping to get 45@31 and make it with a handle and very small window.   This is my first build, and I plan to back the bow with linen, silk, etc. Below is a bow I would like to model it after.

Thanks for all of the help!

 
 
 

[JamesV]

That is a very nice looking bow for a model, good luck on your build.

James

[soopernate]

Sure wish our homeless depot or lowes would carry maple. Good looking bow there. You should be able to get a 45 @ 31 shooter EASILY from maple.

[PEARL DRUMS]

1.5" wide is too narrow for maple in my opinion. You may consider putting an ash or hickory back on it.

[soopernate]

I think 1.5 is perfect considering the weight he is going after.  45 pounds at 31 inches should come out to about 39 or 40 at 28.  Light bows can be narrower. I wouldnt bother backing it with wood unless the grain ran off.  Others will be along but I wouldnt even worry about going up in width until you were trying to get bows up in the mid fifties.

[PEARL DRUMS]

31" draw Nate. It would work, but plan on 3-4" of set when your done.

[soopernate]

72 inch bow should handle that as well.  The one my son is shooting is 1.5 wide (its all we had) 70 inches long...55 pounds at 28 inches. 1.25 of set.  I think he has PLENTY of wood to work with but he will definitely need the entire width. Hell even red oak could make that grade.

[Cuban Missile]

I have to agree on that.  Plan on getting quite a bit of set @ 31"   I would heat treat the belly.  Try finding a cheap heat gun if you don't have one.

[soopernate]

No doubt he is going to get set...I have yet to see a wood bow builder NOT get set.  I think though, with careful tillering, that he can minimize it to around 2 inches though.

The bow he is looking at as an example sure isnt more that wide....curious as to how much set it has taken now.

I know he is drawing 31 inches which seems long but the stave is 72 inches..bow should be 70 inches or so and the poundage is so light that I do not think he will get a ton of set unless it is tillered poorly.

[AZ_Shooter]

Thanks for all of the tips guys.

This is my first build, so I will try to tiller the best I can.  

How about dimensions for the bow.  How much should I taper?  How long a handle?  Tip width? etc.

Really guys, I appreciate all of your help.  I am excited to get going on this.

[soopernate]

If it were my first I would leave it full width until the last fifteen inches or so on each tip...narrow from there to tips around a half inch wide.  Let it bend through the handle to let as much of the limbs work as possible (reducing set)  George Tsoukalas has an excellent tutorial on his site (Building a Board Bow) that will get you started as it did me years ago.  Good luck and keep us posted.

[AZ_Shooter]

I originally planned to follow George's build-along, but then the bow above caught my eye.  I really just need to stop looking a Tradgang so frequently.     But I like the idea of keeping it simple to start with.

I have "The Bent Stick" coming, and I will probably order TBB1 and 2 here shortly.

Thanks again guys!

[PEARL DRUMS]

The bow above was built by Nate. He draws 2-3" less than you do.

[Art B]

Super nice bow in your pic, who built that one?

Leaving the limbs full width really begs for an elliptical tiller Soopernate. Goin' to hurt him on string angle with that long of draw. Perhaps a little mix of full width out ten inches or so and straight taper to tips. Keeping the outer third of the limbs stiff to help with string angle @ full draw.

Adding a small window means a rigid/retangular handle. Me personally, I'd come up from center 1"-1/2" for the arrow shelf/window. Down 4" from there to the bottom of the handle. Fade cutouts probably 2". Handle fade taper several inches past that.

I would start limb thickness around 5/8" at the end of the handle fades and carry that on to the tips. Any wood removal will be mid-limb and on to the tips. Flat belly to mid-limb and progressively rounder to the tips. That's just my idea, so hope some of it keeps........Art

[NTD]

I did build that bow.  It was 66" total length and 1.5" wide.  It was heat treated and backed with hickory.  And Pearl Drums is right.  I only tillered that bow to draw to 28".  It has a new home now.

Good luck AZ-Shooter and let me know if there is something specific I can help you with.  Where in AZ are you?

[AZ_Shooter]

Nate,

That is a beautiful bow, I really like the lines.  It just exudes class.  What is the handle made from?

[NTD]

Thanks for the compliments.  The handle is bubinga and Osage.

[Pac'em out]

NTD, is that bow a maple board backed with hickory?  Where did you buy the backing?  Thanks.

[Philthy]

I made one with HD maple board for my son.  48# no sweat but not drawing near 31".  Extra length should take care of that.  I backed it with brown paper.

[NTD]

Pac'em out,

Yes it is a Home Depot flat sawn Maple board backed with Hickory.  If I remember correctly I got the hickory backing strip from David Knight.