Easter Red Cedar Bow help

[Shot Caller]

I need some help here guys. This is my first attempt at a ERC bow. Gonna do a pyramid style 2" at fades tapering to 1/2". Bow is going to be 62" long. I do plan on sinew backing it. A few pics and questions to follow.

[Shot Caller]

Handle design

[Shot Caller]

Knot on back.

[Shot Caller]

A little natural reflex.

[Shot Caller]

Forgive me on how I posted I'm a newbie. My questions. Is my design ok? What do I do with that knot on the back? Also there is a small drying check on the belly. Will that be ok? I cut this tree one month ago, stripped the bark and put wood glue on the ends. 3 days ago I used a band saw and draw knife to get it closer to dimensions. How long do I need to let the stave dry before working on it? Thanks in advance for all replies.

[willie]

watch that drying check daily, you do not want to dry the stave too fast at first. Has it lost a lot of weight already? If you have been drying outside and you bring it inside this time of year, it might want to dry too fast Do you have a gram scale to take daily weights?

If the stave is a lot thicker than it needs to be, you might consider getting it closer to final weight so it will dry faster and without so much stress. How thick is it now? Do you plan to have it bend thru the handle?

[Jim Davis]

That's not a bend-through-the-handle design, so I want to know your draw length and the length of the stave. Whatever you do, do NOT cut an arrow shelf!

[Josh B]

First off, you could shorten up the handle area and just rawhide it.  Depending on your intended draw length of course.   The trick is getting the narrowed handle to only slightly bend so that it's not overworked, but work it must.   With sinew and a non working handle you're gonna still be limited to a about 25" of draw with the current layout.  As far as the knot and check go, just dope em with thin superglue and they'll be fine.  Josh

[Shot Caller]

Ok. Thanks for the suggestions. Yes I just brought this stave in from the garage. Gonna put it back in the garage this evening. It is around 2 inches thick. My draw length is 26 inches. Gonna try to leave the bow at 62 inches long. Do I need to widen the handle? How much do I need to shorten the handle?

[Josh B]

If your planning on it bending through the handle, I wouldn't go any narrower than 1 3/8".  It looks like you can lose a couple inches in the handle/fade area.  Say an inch and a half on the actual handle and a 1/4" on each fade.  If you go this route, remember to keep the handle stiff during the tillering process until you get within a couple inches of full draw.  Then you can can very carefully work the fades toward the center of the handle.  You really do have to be careful getting the handle working. Its all to easy to end up with a hinge right at the worst possible place.  Be sure to exercise it a lot in between scraping.  Also be careful that you don't get carried away hogging wood off to make it dry faster.  It takes a lot of ERC to make a bow so leave yourself an inch of thickness on the limbs and an inch and a half of thickness through the fades and handle area.  I hope that helps.  Josh