Broken Broken Broken....

[Knapper]

AW,
     Without seeing any pics of the breaks what can I say. My start was with board bows only. Living in the south filled with good hickory and saw mills.
  There is a sawmill just less than an hour from me that cuts as you would say only exotic woods (no pine), hickory, elm , maples, pecan, ash. They let me go through a pallet of wood to pick out the grains I prefer. From woods logged and, skidded and kiln dried. Only had bows break from over stress or poor design.
 Could be bad wood in your instance. Too dry, grain run out, or a mixture of both. If you think so than grab a different board and go back to work. Hickory has its limits. Ive never built a molley out of a board though. I know when I want higher poundage out of a board that I have to flip a laminate over to achieve it. Normally I just rip a strip off the back(with the band saw) and flip it and glue it back on. Good luck with future endeavors.
Knapper

[RabidApache]

I feel for you. I've broken my share of them. I have built one board bow and it ended up breaking. I haven't built one since. I enjoy working with staves or laminated bows more.

The issue i have is living in AZ we don't have a lot of bow wood growing around here.

Whatt!!! AZ has plenty. Too name a few there's NM locust (blk locust), Ash, oak, mulberry, mesquite, Salt cedar, Mtn Juniper and hackberry.

[Arrowind]

mikekeswick and Del -  Thanks for the advice.  I appreciate it.  -  I actually feel like I've been walking for at least a good little bit now and it's the running that is holding my interest.  Still learning lots and have a long ways to go but the thing that is grabbing me right now is wanting to try different designs. -    I honestly don't believe it is the design in this case.  I've made Mollegabets before and all of them have been shorter than 66".  If the bow made it I would have considered it overbuilt....which is why it's perplexing to me.  Why did it fail?  I certainly could have missed something. That's for sure.


Knapper -  Thanks, I wish I had a saw mill near my house that would be cool.  I plan to just keep going with a different board.  I really like your "flip a laminate over" idea.  That's awesome.  never thought of that.  Will plan to try it.  Thanks.

RabidApache -  Ooops!    My ignoramus is showing!      That's good too hear!  Where do you live?  Where are you going to get staves?  I got some Mountian Juniper just below the rim North of Payson - it just seems like aside from Juniper it's mostly Ponderosa Pines and other fir / pine trees.  Guess I need to learn more about my own state!   Any good forest is about a 1.5 to 2hr drive for me...so hunting for bow wood would be a good all day or nice weekend camping trip... unless of course we're talking about the neighbors yard.....

[Pappy]

When I am using wood[especially white wood] that I didn't cut and care for myself ,I always take a small sliver off it and work it till it will bend and do a bend test,you can tell pretty quick if it is to dry/wet or dry rotted.Saves a lot of time working a bow that is destine to break no matter how good it's tillered. 
   Pappy

[PEARL DRUMS]

First off, sorry arrowwind, it sucks. I had a hickory board bow started for "Horsetimes" gift bow, it totally sheared across the back at floor tiller. The bow was 60" long and lucky to be 35-40# at that time, I barely moved it. I have no use for boards........still. I should have grabbed a stave from the start. Yah, I know, nothing wrong with good boards with good grain......

I realize not everybody has staves or access to them. But if you do? USE THEM.

[mikekeswick]

Any time you try a new board or something like this happens out of the blue. Make a mini bow out of the wood, maybe 20 inches long or so. Make the width proportionately the same as you would on a normal bow and it will behave exactly the same as a bigger bow would eg. take the same bend, set, break etc
I've learnt the hard way that not all hickory is indestructable...if the grain is good and moisture content correct then the reason it broke is very likely what happened to it between being cut and you starting working on it. After all commercial loggers don't exactly treat wood like we would when it's cut 
I'm not saying (even a little bit!) that the design is why it broke - I say try all the hardest designs you can think of...it's how I learnt and anyway it's just plain fun

[RabidApache]

Arrowind- I live just outside Globe AZ. Why don't you try Salt cedar. I've used it few times and its almost compares to Hickory. Its a solid white wood and I see it growing everywhere along the Salt and Verde rivers. Best time to harvest is now while its still cool and very few snakes.

[Arrowind]

PEARL DRUMS - thanks.  Yeah.  I definitely need to learn to work a stave.  I've never done it and boards are so much easier to get but I'm making it my goal this year to do it.  Thanks.

mikekeswick and Pappy - thanks - well I guess these two bows were my bend test for THAT board.     Guess a little bit of time up front doing a test would save a lot of time down the road.  thanks for the advice.


RabidApache - Outside of Globe eh. I'm in Gilbert.   Thanks again for opening my eyes.  Guess I need to do more research.  I'll definitely take your suggestion and look for some Salt Cedar....I'll try to get out there soon.  Thanks again!