I made a glass laminated hill style longbow 65" long and it is about 5-10 pounds too heavy for me. It is 1 3/16" wide tapering to 3/8" tips. I have heard about trapping limbs, and was wondering if i should make the back or belly of the bow narrower? I was thinking the belly, but im not sure.
Craig Ekin told me that sometimes he gets five pounds off just by rounding the corners. You can take the tips to the width equal to the depth, with a 5/16 minimum and then round the belly all the way to the fadeouts. I once took a Meigs built Big 5 from 50 down to 42 and I lost no arrow speed in the reduction.
Every bow I build has trap limbs, the back should be the narrowest, not the belly. My bows are 30% narrower back than belly. You may not be able to go that much, but take it off egually if you decide to try it. Be sure to mark both sides the same amount to keep the limb from being twisted. You can read a little more about it on my web site (fisklongbow.com).
What arraflipper said. my McCullough Tsunami limbs are more narrow on the back then the belly, a very smoothy drawing bow.