Got back on the horse again after 3 failures
Chased a ring on the belly split off a nice osage stave, this is the first time I've been able to successfully split a belly stave off - every other time it wanders off into the good wood or back into thin air. Once I'd cleaned 'er up a bit I'm left with a stave 74" in length and at it's thinnest it's 28mm or 1-1/8" wide, though this portion will probably end up in the mid/outer limb depending on layout. A couple of big knots to deal with, and one knot on the side. I've also got a split that goes from the back at 45deg and out the side and runs about 4-5" in from the tip of the stave (bottom in the photo). I would like to keep this end as long as possible so I don't have to deal with the bigger top knot, will wicking it with CA be enough? I don't have any issue binding it with thread etc. but I can't do that until it's pretty well finished. It will also deal with the kink in the top of the stave and I may not have to heat treat to get the string through the handle. That's my 64" osage selfbow for comparison.
What thickness should I aim for to start with for something in the order of 66", 50# and probably bendy handle style given the narrow width: 20mm/0.8", 25mm/1" ??
Thanks
Steve