Bow Design Flaws?

[George Tsoukalas]

The design seems adequate. I also like PatM's advice about making a bend in the handle bow.
There's a buildalong on my site and you can find a red oak board bow buildalong on my site.
You can narrow the board to 1 3/8" for 45-50#.
It is very important to choose a straight grained board as explained on my site.
Jawge
http://traditionalarchery101.com/boardbowbuildalong.html

[PatM]

  Isn't the guy you are following on youtube using a glass cloth backing and saying that wooden bows HAVE to be backed?

[fsubobcat15]

PatM,

Yes I know I will get this mixed up but he does say to back the bows, which I did. I read fiberglass tape worked well so I have been using that.  Granted the one picture shows the white oak bow missing its other limb.  That was just the end result of me releasing some frustration on a bow that I had spent the better part of 3 weeks working on.

[turtle]

Lots of good advice already given. There are also buildalongs on this site such as this one.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=35312.0

[joachimM]

By D bow, do you mean D cross section or even tiller flat bow?

D-bow is a bow that bends into a nice symmetrical D-shape. Bendy handle, widest at the handle. Flat belly.
Sapling bows are often D-bows

[PatM]

PatM,

Yes I know I will get this mixed up but he does say to back the bows, which I did. I read fiberglass tape worked well so I have been using that.  Granted the one picture shows the white oak bow missing its other limb.  That was just the end result of me releasing some frustration on a bow that I had spent the better part of 3 weeks working on.

   Well first of all stop doing that.

[BowEd]

he he he he.

[bradsmith2010]

if you want to make a bow,,, just ask here and you will have success,, lots of great bowyers here,, fiberglass is not primitive,,,, if you want to make a fiberglass bow great,, I have done it, but if you want to make a wood bow,, make a wood bow,, a bad combination of the two,, will probably not give you the results you want or could get if done in a more traditional way,,

[bubbles]

Jawge has a great build along which I have followed with success.
Bubby also has a great pyramid board bow build along.

Keep at it! Most people break the first few. Take it step by step, post the steps here amd folks will help along the way. A lot of guys  usually don't do a lot of the finishing touches (handle shaping, arrow rests, tip narrowing) until after the bow is shooting, that way youre less invested if it doesn't make it 

[fsubobcat15]

brad,

just to clarify I used fiberglass tape as a backing material because it was cheap and recommended as an alternative to other materials such as rawhide etc.  I read up on other forums where people had used it just so their bows wouldn't explode if they failed.  Seeing as both of mine did fail I'm glad I used it