BRAZILLIAN CHERRY ( JATOBA ) BOW DIMENSIONS

[Nasr]

 Hello everyone i was working on a bow when i discovered i had a Jatoba board that i had forgotten about tucked away in my wood stash and i remembered when i first bought it being put off by certain things i hear about it being prone to fretting. However i believe i am up for the challenge and i was wondering if anyone has had experience with this wood and if so what design is best for this bow. I was thinking of backing it with white oak and trying to get a flat bow of maybe 64-66 inches pulling 50 pounds at 28 inches. I am not set on a flat bow so if the design doesnt fit i can even go for a longbow. The Board is about 6 ft tall and 2 in wide and maybe 2 inches thick so if this works i can rip it down and maybe get two bows out of it. I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE THE HELP AND I WANT TO THANK YOU IN ADVANCE 

[Julian]

I can't imagine you needing more than 1" of thickness. I don't know anything about laminated bows though. White oak is a good backing, if jatoba i (-Ps prone to fretting then you might want to go for a slightly trapezoid section.

[Ryan Jacob]

What does the grain look like? A picture could help. From the numbers I see here, http://www.wood-database.com/jatoba/ ,it seems pretty balanced. If the grain iffy, I’d back it with either white oak or hard maple. Maybe slightly trap it.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Never seen a flat bow from it. Only long, slender ELB styled bows. I would look at 68-70" ntn and about 1 1/16" wide.

[hunter255]

I used JATOBA before with Bamboo backing. JATOBA frets easily, Make sure your tiller is right on

[Nasr]

Hmmm does anyone think a deflection reflex will help with the fretting ?? Maybe reflex it back to even. I might try bot a flat bow and a longbow. I think maybe a deflection reflex might help with the frets by reducing the stress. These will all be backed with white oak.

[Julian]

Hmmm does anyone think a deflection reflex will help with the fretting ?? Maybe reflex it back to even. I might try bot a flat bow and a longbow. I think maybe a deflection reflex might help with the frets by reducing the stress. These will all be backed with white oak.

what about a deflex-reflex american longbow?

[Nasr]

Hmmm does anyone think a deflection reflex will help with the fretting ?? Maybe reflex it back to even. I might try bot a flat bow and a longbow. I think maybe a deflection reflex might help with the frets by reducing the stress. These will all be backed with white oak.

what about a deflex-reflex american longbow?

I am at this pint open to anything I actually might have enough to do three bows. It's about two inches thick so I can robably ri down three slats. Tablesaw blade would take 1/8 " material for each cut.

[PEARL DRUMS]

The least stressed bow you can make is what I suggested. Anytime you add reflex you add strain.

[Badger]

  I have probably made at least a dozen backed jatoba bows. Most of them had at least some fretting. I would go at least 1 3/8 wide and get the whole limb bending. The wood is heavy so keep the outer limbs narrow ands stiff for maybe 8" or so. It is a really fast wood and I think with careful tillering you can avoid fretting. Start looking for the frets early on in the tillering process. white oak should work well for a backing.

[High-Desert]

I have made one, it was 72" ntn, 65lbs @ 26, it WAS 1-3/8" at the fades and tapered to 7/16" nocks. It shot great for many years. one day, I decided to try and get it to 29", why? I don't know, I can't shoot 29", maybe  just because, I put it on the tiller board, pulled it back, BOOM. A perfect normal break. The wood seems brittle, and splitters like like many exotics. Just a guess, but my bow would probably have been better at 50-55lbs with those dimensions. I would suggest going wide. Wide for how dense it is anyway.