I have never tried dogwood but it will make a fine bow,Ive just never found a tree tall and straight enough to use. Most any hardwood will make a bow some just have to be longer and/or wider than others. You're correct on the fades and I usually make mine about 2" or so but they can be longer as long as they are a smooth transition. Its hard to make them much shorter than that as they would be too steep and wouldnt make a smooth transition. I'll try to dig up a pic for ya.

Heres what mine usually end up looking like. You can see the ring lines tapering away from the handle and into the limb.

Marahat, as said earlier you need to attend OJAM. It is March 21-24 between Stillwater and Perkins. You are only 2.5 hours away. PM me for details, the event is free. We will have everything you need to learn.
Tommy

I sent you a pm. I'll definitely try to make it, I hope I can.

Hey, I read that ALL wooden arrows are made from Port Orford Cedar. Is that true? You can't make them out of local timber? I was wondering how people got the spine and weight correct, I thought maybe they used the same wood that they made the bow from.. I don't know why I thought that, I just thought it made sense.

Take your time ... i rushed the tiller on my first osage attempt and ended with a snapped limb and lots of foul language.

shes a 2 piece take down now =)

Oh yeah, definitely. I'm planning for this to be a very long project. I have some experience working with wood, I make woodcut prints. And I've made a few other things. But I'm definitely not going to try to get an immediate result with this. Also, it's my understanding now that you can do everything right and still have a piece of wood break occasionally and have no idea what went wrong. So I'll probably try to have several going at the same time, maybe all from different woods. I don't know, is that a good idea or not?

Mine was a crime of passion..... Dont know that I could work more than one piece with my form off a.d.d. (Impatience). I wish you luck though!

Yeah I don't have a whole lot of patience either when I'm trying to make something. I usually tend to seek immediate results. But I'm going to have to control that with this, it seems.