Short bows

[rudderbows]

sounds pretty short for comfort, BUT< What the heck, anything is worth trying. Education costs something even if it is a couple of good pieces of wood and boo. How about a 48" D style bow that bends in the handle with slight recurves at the tips to get rid of the stacking problem?

[Marc St Louis]

They key word here is "speed". You can make a bow that short but making one that will be fast is the problem. The short working limbs just can't store enough energy without taking excessive set. Keeping the recurves very small will add to working limb length and deflexing will add to draw length. Makes for an interesting challenge

[Mechslasher]

i think there is a hickory board bow in one of the bowyers bibles that is 48" long and draws to 28".  you would have to keep the back and belly perfectly flat to lower stress and possibly heat treat the belly.  the slightly deflexed static recurve would possibly work.  short statics would help prevent stacking.  now that i'm thinking about it, a quarter sawn perfectly clean piece of osage backed with bamboo maybe hickory should hold up.  or you could use the same combo and glue it up into a dou-flex working recurve.  this would allow the limbs to uncoil and lenghten during the draw.

[D. Tiller]

I believe putting sinew on a bow while it is put into a reverse draw and allowing it to dry will cause more energy to be stored in the limbs.

[Justin Snyder]

I don't think sinew will solve the problem by itself.  If the wood don't blow under the additional stress, it will probably fret.  The belly area is what someone would have to figure out. That is why he added the no horn clause. Justin

[D. Tiller]

How about widenning the limbs a bit to take up the extra stress and using Ipe for a belly wood?

[Far East Archer]

Well lets see here. If the bow is 48" long and is gonna pull 28 then your gonna need a wood as close to horn like ipe. A bamboo backing will work for the tension side and will also keep mass down bringing up the speed. Problem is I don't know how well ipe recurves. You could glue one recurves and have the boo going over it to keep it from popping off,also this way you can use a lighter wood like ash to lower tip mass. Adding deflex and lots of reflex seems to be the key here. So maybe like 1 1/2-1 3/4" wide limbs and very skinny tips. Well Ill be making something like this soon but with bamboo too see how it works before i try anymore.

Alex

P.S. throw the armor aside and get a bomb squad suit!

[D. Tiller]

Could you film the tillering process and put it on the net? I would love to see a bow go BOOOMMMM!!! Never seen it happen before but I think you may have a good chance! 

[D. Tiller]

Seriously though, I've been thinking about it. How about getting laminates of Ipe, thin ones, and a few of another to act as a core wood and allow for a good gluing surface for the sinew. Build a form and glue the laminations together. Belly of a couple lams of ipe then one of the bellywood and then start glueing the sinewbacking to it. Make sure to put horn overlays on the tips to take the shock well. This would allow you to get the shape of the bow and the tension from the sinew and the Ipe for compresion. I think this would work.

[Ryano]

It could be done, no doubt in my mind. It just depends on what you think "Fast" is.....Here's what I would recommend. Two Osage billets spliced in the handle with around 4" of deflex,A 6" stiff handle ,make it a reverse riser like the one I did on the paddy's day bow, add about 5" of reflex with about 3" static flipped up 45 tips and heat treat the crap out of the belly. make the limbs 2" wide at the fades and taper straight to 1/2" at the tips. My 50"er draws fine to 28" and still holds the same profile after many shots. No doubt this would make a great hunting bow, flight bow maybe not but it should perform quite well with a 28" draw. The old Bear 48"ers are no speed demons either.....

[Kegan]

It's very possible. If the limbs are thin enough(3/8" tapering to 1/4") and wide enough (over 2") then it would work. Would need some serious reflexing though, and would have to bend through the handle for maximum performance.

Swear I've seen a bow like that. Shot well. Was all hickory. Hmm, might have to replicate it

Man I love this place.

[jamesw319]

reflex it and bamboo//////////yourbest bet is a backed bow///////////
                                             jpw

[welch2]

So what's wrong with using horn?

Ralph

[mullet]

   Nothing,I just thought that would make it too easy.And take all the excitement out of tillering

[Justin Snyder]

I don't know Eddie. I think watching a heavy weight horn bow explode could be exciting.  Justin