Starting point Dims for ~70lb Lam bow

[SuperCracker]

High guys. Hoping to get some suggestions here.

I'd like to make a hunting weight 70lbish EWB/ELB styled bow for use next year. It's not my first bow but I'm not ready to jump into a selfbow from a stave yet either. If I do either a Boo or Hickory back on osage what would be a good starting dimensions to trim the glue up down to before I start shaping?

[adb]

You might want to reconsider your choice. I believe bows are like tools. There's the right tool for every job, and one tool will not do every job.

An ELB or EWB at 70# is not the best tool for the job if you want to hunt with a bow. These types of bows are great for their intended purpose... flight and target shooting. An ELB or EWB of your intended specs also needs to be fairly long... minimum of 70" - 72" ntn IMO.

70# is also more than you'll ever need for hunting weight. Better to shoot less weight more accurately when it comes to hunting. I hunt with 50# and have never felt like it wasn't enough.

That being said, a better tool for the job might be a bit shorter & lower poundage flatbow. Just some food for thought. This way of thinking also allows me justification to have many bows hanging on my wrack!

I'm not sure how you hunt with a bow, but if you're like most, using a 6' long ELB in a treestand is not very handy.

[WillS]

I'm not sure how you hunt with a bow, but if you're like most, using a 6' long ELB in a treestand is not very handy.

Tell that to all the people who still want to believe Robin Hood used a longbow

I'm totally with Adam - IF you're planning on using it for hunting, it might be worth reconsidering.  However, you might have also meant "hunting weight" as a way of categorising the bow.  If you're actually just after a 70#ish English Longbow then of course you'll be fine.  I know NOTHING about laminated bows or dimensions so I can't help, but guys like Adam and Daniel (toomanyknots) are supremely talented when it comes to making laminated longbows/warbows so they're the guys to get guidelines from.

[SuperCracker]

My hunting bow now is a 65# semi modern longbow.  I'd just like to try something a bit more..... "historical", if I don't like it or it doesn't work for my terrain I'm not married to it. lol    I never hunt from tree stands. I hate heights and it feels unnatural. 99.9% of my non bird hunting is stalking through the swamps.

I know the ELB profile will be a bit less efficient than my current bow so I figured the neighborhood of 70# would be a good target weight to still get decent speed with the really heavy arrows I like to use for pigs.

[RyanY]

If you want historical I'd say make it your height, keep the middle 1/3rd 1.25" wide and taper to 3/8" tips. I'd start with a thickness of 1" for the middle foot or so and taper to 1/2" at the tips to start. These are estimated measurements so start bigger and work your way down.

[PatM]

You can hunt with any length of bow you want. People in jungle areas have used longbows for millennia. Will Thompson's favorite hunting bow as a 6'6" Snakewood backed with Hickory longbow.
 Howard Hill also did OK with longbows of around 6 feet.

[toomanyknots]

You can hunt with any length of bow you want. People in jungle areas have used longbows for millennia. Will Thompson's favorite hunting bow as a 6'6" Snakewood backed with Hickory longbow.
 Howard Hill also did OK with longbows of around 6 feet.

And then of course you have saxon pope.

[mikekeswick]

1 1/4 wide for the center 12 inches, handle 4 inch and 4 eitherside. Then tapering to 3/4 inch wide about 12 inches from the nocks, then down to 1/2 inch for the tips. You can of course narrow the outer limbs later. Elliptical tiller 
If you can fit throught a gap so can your bow.....unless you are very skinny......