Hey guys,
How is brace height determined and how does it affect the way a bow shoots?
  Thanks,
        Mace

Brace hieght for some bows is by limitations.  In other words the manufacture will tell you a limit, because it might overstress the limbs.  But you usually set it to quieten the bow.

I set mine on selfbows based off my feather length and quietness and tuning.  Usually for straight longbows, I set it to 6" and move 1" up or down from there.  For recurves, usually go from 7" to 8".

Yeah, selfbows is what I was wondering about. Will a higher brace give more handshock? Or is that just bad tillerin'?
I just finished my first bow a couple of days ago, and it is a pitiful affair. I was just proud to get her to full draw. She took some awful set and handshock. I think my sycamore was a little green, too.
  Hopefully my next will be better. Going with some ash.

Some string follow is not necessarily a bad thing (i.e 2" or less)  Normally, self bows are braced at about 6"(sometimes less).  measurement from shelf, grip, on belly side.  Yes, insufficently dried wood will cause severe string follow.  Try making that ash bow long(68-72")  and wide (2" at the fades), and of course dry-- You'll likely succeed in making serviceable bow, at the very least.

Thanks Chuck.

I am really the wrong person to answer.  But I notice handshock could be bad tillering or thick limb tips, even fades that are not gracefully curved.  The more BH, the less handshock, usually.

Thanks, bigcountry.
What's BH?

Brace Height. Wasn't thinking.
Took some meat off the limb tips and it helped it quite a bit.

Thanks!

My first osage had hand shock.  I whip tillered the ends and had no hand shock, but lost like 8lbs because of it.

Heavy tips, a bow that bends too much in the handle, bad tiller, and bad limb timing where one limb  hits home before the other all contribute to handshock. I measure brace from string to back of bow. My las bow is around 7.25 in. Jawge