Thanks everybody for comments on the bow!
Dean, it took some set. I have a picture prior to starting in the roughed out stage to give you an idea. It's hard to measure with all the rolls in the grain along with the set back area in the handle. The tiller tree told me 1-inch and then after strung for awhile and test shooting an 1 1/2 total so I heat treated and then re-tillered. I will normally add some heat about half way through the process but I wanted to see how this wood preformed as I have 7 or 8 staves left. After heat treating it has a 1/2 of follow unstrug that disappears over 4 or 5 hours and the natural reflex I will never get back. The bow comes back pretty flat. I didn't flip the tips on this bow or heat in anything prior. I tried heating one tip to match the natural flip in the other but it didn't seem to cooperate so I left it alone.
I was worried about hand shock with handle being set back a litte but its bending enough through the handle and balanced pretty well that I don't feel anything on release. That was a concern.
What impressed me most about this wood was its ability to stand-up to humid conditions. I know this stave had to be in the 12 or 13% range with all the humidity here in Ky. over the last couple weeks. I built this bow right in the middle of it being off work and desperate to build a bow having the available time.
Here's the picture of the roughed bow prior to starting. To answer your question, 2 inches would be my guess based on the picture. You can see that handle area was a challenge throughout the process. Hope this helps, Dean, and thanks for your interest.
