Mr Keswick makes a good point. You may even leave the whole width of the billet until you have the handle fitted. Then you can cheat in your tips so that they line up perfectly!
Ok, for something like you are describing...an all around bow....I might consider a pyramid bow. 2" at the fades down to a bit skinnier than 1/2" at the tips. This design has very fast "harmonics" to the limbs, due to the very light tips. For moderate weight arrows, typically 10 grains to the pound of draw weight, you can get mighty quick arrows. For example, for a 50 lb bow I would easily expect 150+ fps with 500 grain arrows. You can go slightly heavier than 500 grains with your arrows for hunting, and lighter for target plinking. But if you go to heavy arrows such as 12 grains/lb draw, then you are going to really see slow arrows and lots of drop at the 20 yd mark.
And best of all, pyramid bows are pretty easy to chase a good tiller. I'm a fan of simpler bows like these. Adding recurves, laminates, and so on exponentially add labor without greatly enhanced results.
But this is MY opinion. And much like farts, everybody prefers their own. Looking forward to hearing what other people have to offer! Don't be offended if I hold my nose, though!
