I've gone and done it now

[Rākau]

and have just turned a 72" longbow into a 61" stave haha I would like to hear your opinions. I have just piked 10.5" off a 72" longbow that I never used due to it being shocky and poorly tillered. and I wanted to have a go at a shortish bendy
the plan is to heat in some reflex and then tiller her out to 50# at 26" (read, "try"),
anywho, I will post some updates as i bumble my way through this project and any thoughts or advice will be much appreciated.

cheers,
Zach

[Del the cat]

Looks like you have plenty of wood to work with.
I'd have sawn 1" less off each end just to give you some extra to allow adjustment... (and the fun of sawing it off later  )
Del

[Rākau]

Thanks Dell, she was 65 at 28 originally, so lole you say, should have plenty of material to work with, and you're right I should have been a bit less gung ho haha, ahhh well moving forward.

while reflexing I pushed it a bit much and got a crack across the belly at one tip, not too worried as it was shallow and the tips are waaay too stiff anyway.
total reflex gained is 2", i expect I will probably lose most/all of that though

[bradsmith2010]

It should work

[Rākau]

Haha well i'm still learning the difference between should work and will work