Next step

[DC]

I've been building the same design bow for a while and I've got it to the point where it's taking very little set. What do you think would be the next logical change? Shorter? Narrower? Other?

[sleek]

I'm at that point too. Im going up in draw weight and going up in draw length. If none of those suit you, id try to go up in reflex, which is also on my to do list.

[PatM]

I think you should shrink the design to around 48 inches and try  to really see what it can do in flight.

[willie]

I think you should shrink the design to around 48 inches and try  to really see what it can do in flight.

would that advice include reducing the draw length also?

[DC]

I think you should shrink the design to around 48 inches and try  to really see what it can do in flight.

I'm at 66" with 28" DL. So you're suggesting 48" with what, 22-23"? That's a DL of almost half the bow with a full handle?

[PatM]

I think you should shrink the design to around 48 inches and try  to really see what it can do in flight.

would that advice include reducing the draw length also?

Of course.   About 22-23.

[DC]

OK. Some other dimensions. We know that we can half the DW by halving the width or reducing the thickness by an eighth. Do we have a rule for length? I've never heard one but that doesn't mean anything . I know that even if we did putting all three together is pretty much going to be a WAG but it would be an educated WAG

[PatM]

I would definitely make it wider. 

[DC]

I have a Boo Yew bow I made my grandson a few years back. It's 44" long and pulls 10# at 21". It's 1/2" wide and 3/8" thick. It took a little set so that tells me that it was bent as tight as it should go. He was pulling it further than 21" when he stopped using it. A little deflex in the handle was in the plan anyway. 1 1/2" wide would make it 30#. It's a "longbow" so a little reflex/recurve will help. Making it 48" long will hurt the DW but I think it's good insurance. I'll go see what kind of scraps I have.
I found the next bow I made him. It's an RD 50" long, 7/8" wide about 3/8" thick and it pulls 16# at 22. It looks like a nice bend.
I have a plan

[bradsmith2010]

what ever you do, have fun,,  but the shorter bow for flight sounds very interesting,,

[avcase]

I've been building the same design bow for a while and I've got it to the point where it's taking very little set. What do you think would be the next logical change? Shorter? Narrower? Other?

I don’t know what you can do next.  The backed yew bow that you sent to the recent flight competition is perfect.

It would be cool to see you come up with a bow optimized for shooting very light 23” long flight arrows.

Alan

[DC]

[quote author=avcase link=topic=68827.msg965869#msg965869
I don’t know what you can do next.  The backed yew bow that you sent to the recent flight competition is perfect.

It would be cool to see you come up with a bow optimized for shooting very light 23” long flight arrows.

Alan
[/quote]

Thank you Alan but really I just copied Marc and got lucky

Well I've started on the bow based on what PatM suggested. We'll see what happens. It will be a mini clone of the Boo Yew. I was having trouble figuring out what a "long flight" arrow was. That puzzled me for a bit.

[willie]

OK. Some other dimensions. We know that we can half the DW by halving the width or reducing the thickness by an eighth. Do we have a rule for length? I've never heard one but that doesn't mean anything . I know that even if we did putting all three together is pretty much going to be a WAG but it would be an educated WAG

shorter length mean thinner also, and if you have a proroportion of back thickness to belly thickness in mind, it would mean reducing both.

another question you might ask is how to proportion working limb to non working handle length and will you scale down the radius of the static tips also?

[DC]

I'm going to reduce the handle to minimum length even if the heel of my hand is on the lower limb. On the last bow I made I opened up the radius of the recurves so the string will lift off earlier. I'm going to use that caul to put the recurves and some of the reflex in this one.

[bradsmith2010]

thats so cool, DC,, keep in mind that each bow will lead you to the next improvement, its a journey,, enjoy,,