board bow (straight or curve)

[James Rodney]

Hey guys, sorry it's been a while since i've said anything.. things have been hectic lately. i'm in the process of making a board bow, just because i'm bored and waiting for staves to dry.  Oak board with pretty good grain, and i'm going to try and do a bamboo backing.  my question may seem stupid, so here it goes.   I'm wondering if bow's have to be straight, like if you're looking at it as you'd hold it when shooting it.  could you arc the bow slightly from TTT, to slightly offset it from the center? i just had the idea of instead of cutting in a shelf, why not be able to have the bow slightly curved?  so the string will not be directly in the center of the bow, but more to the side.  giving it a more straight path to follow with the arrow, off the side of the bow. 

the picture is as if you're looking at the belly of the bow.

[DC]

That would be under string alignment The string should go through the center of the handle. You can have it go a bit of center but not much. I believe too much would cause the bow to twist in your hand.

[James Rodney]

i didn't think about twisting while shooting.. i've glued two pieces of rosewood for a riser in the middle.  i will prob cut in a small shelf, but not try to hard to make it center shot.  i figured if i curved the limbs out just a small fraction, i could get it true center.  but i'm just mainly experimenting.

[DC]

I believe I read somewhere that true centershot isn't that desirable, there should be a bit of offset. But I may have dreamed it so take that into consideration. I have this theory that the reason different bows of the same weight want different spine arrows is because of the string offset, more offset needs less spine.

[Pat B]

Don't try to make it center shot. That is a FG thing. Make arrows that are properly spined for the bow you are shooting. You will get good performance from bows that are not center shot IF your arrows are spined properly for that bow.

[Academonicon]

I've had real trouble with staves where the string sits too far to one side of the handle.  They twist in your hand, which is a real pain both in shooting and during tillering.

[James Rodney]

well darn. i thought i was on to something good here.. lol  i'll keep it straight. centershot wasn't really the goal. just thought it would help arrow flight paths if the string was closer to the side of the bow the arrow would be on.

  ask and learn!