Hickory pyramid bow

[kiltedcelt]

Hey all, after a failed experiment with a Maple static recurve, I'm wanting to do something a bit more basic. So, I have a nice piece of Hickory that I want to make a pyramid bow from. I'm thinking of 70" NTN - no particular weight in mind but probably below 45#. The fades I'm thinking of making a full 3" wide tapering down to about 5/16" at the nocks. With a pyramid design like this do you taper thickness at all or keep it the same from fades to nocks? I've made a couple pyramid style bows before but nothing with fades this wide. My other two tries were Red Oak backed with linen, 70" NTN and about 1/2" wide at the nocks and about 1 3/8" at the fades. Those bows were tapered from 1/2" at the fades down to about 5/16" at the nocks. They both don't bend that much around the fades but bend more in the outer two thirds. Tiller is pretty good for both of them and they're what my wife and I shoot regularly. So, with this new project should I thickness taper or not? Oh yeah, and for safety sake I'm probably going to linen back this Hickory bow. Oh yeah, and it'll have a glue on riser and I'm thinking a handle length of about 6". Oh yeah, this will be a board bow, not a selfbow.

[Pat B]

With a true pyramid bow the tiller is in the profile taper. the limb thickness should be the same from fade to tip. At 70" long and 3" at the fades tapering out to the tips you will have way too much wood for a 45# bow. You could probably easily get away with 64" or 66" long and reducing the width to 2" to 2 1/2". Get the bend from the fades to 6" from the tips.

[kiltedcelt]

Actually I don't want more than 45#, in fact I'd be happier with something closer to 40# or slightly less. I'd rather have something slightly lighter that I can shoot for longer periods of time with out getting tired out. Also, I just started archery and my aim isn't that great so from what an instructor said heavier bows tend to magnify mistakes. Right now I shoot with a 30+ # 70" NTN flatbow that I made - it's linen-backed Red Oak, flat bow design with slight pyramid shape. So, if I go to nearly 6' in length, say 68" NTN with fades 2 1/2" to 3" wide that will yield a lower draw weight bow? I'm assuming it's the same case with pyramid design as with other designs in that if you want a higher weight you can always cut the length down some to increase draw weight?

[Pat B]

The thickness(or thinness) is where most of your weight will come from. 68" and 2 1/2" to 3" at the fades could build a bow of almost any weight. The thickness would determine the weight. With a wider limb you can decrease the length. You should design your bow and build to that design. Piking(cutting the length to increase weight), is a last resort method but with proper design and execution you shouldn't need to pike.

[Pappy]

If you plan on making it that wide, and want that light weight I would probably leave it long,to get down to that weight being that wide it will be pretty thin,the shorter you make it the thinner it will have to be,when they get that thin just being off a little on the tiller and the belly will fret. And to answer you question,when I make a pyramid I keep them the same thickness from fads to tips,I guess there is probably some tapper but I do that while tillering.I start even. Keep us posted.Should
be cool looking.
   Pappy