Hickory question

[razorback]

So I have a stave that is 1 1/2" wide and currently 64" long. my plan is to make a semi bend in the handle static recurve/flipped tip bow out of it. Is 1 1/2" wide enough for hickory. It currently has 4" of natural reflex and is very straight. If the width is fine, what length should I go with, i am looking for 50# +/- 5#.
Any input would be great as this will be y first bendy handle bow.

[DVSHUNTER]

You didn't state draw length so I'm guessing 28. Ideally I would want the stave a touch wider, but it will work. Of it were mine I would leave it as long as I could. Keep it dry. Like 6-8% hickory is quite snappy.

[razorback]

Dave, this piece of wood is from a stave that had a funky knot thingy in the end of it. i cut a full size hickory bow out of it and this is the bit that was left. I would also like it to be a little wider bit figured I would try to get a bow out of this piece. would you go straight limb to about 8" and taper to the tip, flipping this 8", or do a straight taper to stiff tips. Never made one like this so will appreciate all input.

[DVSHUNTER]

I would go full width about one inch past mid limb and then taperto tips 1/2 wide at the most. Almost like a lever bow. That would help with the strain of the four inches of reflex then I like probably flip or slightly reflex the tips, but only the last three or four inches.

[LittleBen]

I think you're good to go on that plan. I'd recommend heat treating the belly though. I've found it makes quite a difference in the amount of set a hickory bow will take.

I have a hickory selfbow I made which is 54" long, 4" stiff handle, flipped tips (maybe 3-4" long at most), and about 1.125" wide at the fades. I wish it were 1.5" as you have. That give a limb length of 25", the same as my draw length. I figure if you're going with a handle section of 6" or less, and a draw length of 28" or less, you have a limb length at least as long as draw length and you're good.

[razorback]

Ben,
At which point in the process do you heat treat the belly and flip the tips. I am going for a semi rigid handle and have 64" to work with, though I was hoping for a shorter bow than that while still getting a 28" draw.

[LittleBen]

I basically get the bow tillered to around my desired draw weight but dont shoot it in to reduce the amount of set it takes before heat treating.

Then I'll flip the tips, either with bioling or dry heat. You might want to leave a little extra material there incase you get some splintering, but its a double edged sword because thicker wood is more liekly to splinter. I'd recommend getting the tips to the desired final thickness then flipping. You can always add an underlay if you need.  

Lastly I will heat treat. I do this last for two reasons, first I usually just use dry heat, so I'm already there with the heat gun and have the bow on the form. (yes I usually heat treat each limb over a full limb length caul). Second, I dont want to spend the time heat treating the belly wood only to find out I have to scrape off a large portion of the heat treated wood and do it all over.

If you're living upo at Big Moose, you probably have a filthy ton of bow wood at your disposal, shoudl be hickory, hophornbeam, hard maple, oak. I lived in Rome for a while and use to hunt a few places near (relatively) to you. Deer hunting around Woodgate, Bear hunting up near Lake Ampersand, Grouse hunting and hiking all over. Beautiful country up there ... Man do I miss it. Hopefully I'll get back after a few years in the trenches down here in VA.

[razorback]

Hey Ben if you are in the area stop by.
We actually don't have much good wood up here. Mostly maple and cherry. No hickories or oaks and haven't been able to find any hophornbeam either. I do have a bunch of cherry staves that i am slowly working on. Got them from a tree that came done in hurricane Irene. We have a good number of bear and deer up here along with grouse and hares. Might go out and chase some this weekend hmmm.