I have begun to shape the bow’s belly, reducing wood from the handle to the tips according to the following measurements (thickness)
at center (handle): 35 mm
6”: 25 mm
12": 22 mm
18": 19 mm
24": 17 mm
30": 15 mm
36": 13 mm
As such, in agreement with the English Longbow’s dimensions, the bow’s thickness and its width are diminishing from the handle toward the tips, in a linear fashion. This gentle tapering of the limbs to a point will later allow me to tiller to the traditional arc. Having said that, I will leave extra wood at the handle, to prevent it from bending (or bending too much). I don’t want to place extra strain on the splice.
Once again, the most important thing is to take one’s time go slowly. I marked out the measurements on the side of the stave to guide me as I was working down the wood, and then took it slowly with the draw knife at first then the spokeshave and finally cabinet scrapers, when I thought I was getting close to the desired thickness.
When reducing belly wood, it is important to respect the contours of the stave’s back and follow its dips and humps. Where the back rises, one must create a dip in the belly, and vice versa. This is to make sure the direction of the grain is respected and decrease in limb thickness is regular from handle to tip.
Follow the humps and the dips...
...until the limbs begin to take shape
This can be achieved with a bit of patience and care, by paying attention to the growth rings as wood is removed. Ideally these should be equally spaced and pointing away from the center of the bow, thusly: >>>> measuring the stave’s thickness with a caliper at regular intervals can also help.
Using the growth rings as a guide. the tip is at the bottom of the picture
This is easier than it sounds, in actual fact soon after starting to work on it, I realized the wood was “guiding” me along the grain, following the correct contours, and all I had to do is then make sure the thickness was as per specifications above.
At this point, the limbs’ cross sections is still square/rectangular. The next step will be to approach a D-shaped cross section, and reach a stage of “floor-tillering”.