Handle question?

[BowEd]

General rule of thumb about this is twice the depth as the width.Personally I've never had a handle brake even with bows up to 65#'s going as narrow as 5/8" wide arrow pass and at least 1 and 1/4" depth.

[scp]

Fifty pound bow

Looks like OP has his answer in this pic. There is nothing like experience to know where the margins are.

Mark

What? No math?

What would be the minimum dimensions for absolutely no bending movement there?

[mmattockx]

What? No math?

Not when Arvin already has the answer in hand... 

I'm too busy at the moment to run numbers for OP, but it would be the more precise way to do it. The calcs are basic structural work and not too involved.

What would be the minimum dimensions for absolutely no bending movement there?

No matter how thick you make it there is always deflection under load, it just gets hard to see or measure. You have to define how large the deflections can be and still be considered 'stiff'. This is something that needs calculation if you want a precise answer, but I would say making the handle area 2.5-3x as thick as the base of the limb will get you in the ballpark.


Mark

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Narrowest I’ve gone was 3/4” wide and 1.5” deep on a 70# recurve. No issues at all and felt just fine to my hands. I’ve started to settle on 7/8” before the handle wrap and about 1 3/8” deep with a straight grip and 1 1/2” deep with a contoured grip.

Kyle

[bownarra]

Bows can and do fail if you go too narrow.....There is a reason most centershot or past glass bows have I-beams in the risers. A sight window is almost the definition of a stress riser.

[Selfbowman]

This does not need the be overthought. Everyone has been right. If you are worried  just leave more meet on the opposite side of the window and put a small twist in the handle. This will also let you have a lower brace if you like.