Well, my first BBO attempt ended in a nice 25LB bow. Bow number 2 failed at the Z-splice during glue up. Bow#3 blew up during tillering at 55#@24" due to a bad glue joint (I think) so I am starting bow#4. I am down to 2 pieces of bamboo. one I am not comfortable using because it has a split downt he center of the crown for about 3 feet off the end. The other does not lay out nicely with my Torges style 64"NTN template. The problem is the nodes. On one side the nodes are about 9" apart and on the other about 11" apart. I can lay out the bow ith the central node an inch or two off the center of the handle. My question is... one limb is going to have 3 nodes and the other 2. Is it better to have the three nodes spread over the longer upper limb? No matter how I do it, I am going to have a node within 4-5 inches of one tip and 10 or so from the other.
Or should I just call Mike up and order more bamboo?! Which I'm going to have to do soon anyways! :D Still hoping to have a bow I can hunt with this fall, but need to get past this decision and get cranking! Less than two months away now.
It is purely esthetics-so 3 nodes would look better on the longer limb.
Don't worry about the ones that didn't work-the first few I made ended up as failures too-you have to make some mistakes and learn from them.
Why not order a Bow Blank from Dryad Bows. They are just about fool proof and excellent performers too.
I've got a do it yourself stubborn streak and a pile of osage boards! Thanks for the feedback. I think tomorrow I'll lay it out.
I have found the number of nodes or node spacing is not important. Good tillering will compensate for node irregularities.