I haven't made any posts yet, but I've been doing a ton of reading.  I'd just like to say thanks to the TradGang members for taking the time to help guys like me.  Well, here's my bow.  It's 40# at 28".  Red oak board with no backing.

 

Looks very nice, congrats.. SW Pa here..

congrats on the first board bow. theyre definitly good practice for staves, and they pose their own set of challenges. is it completely done or are you still in tillering stage?

That's a nice BOW!!!

I'm in Lehigh county PA.  I haven't braced it yet.  I just got a string in the mail from 3 Rivers.  But I did pull it as far as I need it to go with my long string.  Maybe that's wrong, but what's the worst that could happen... it would break and I'd have fun making another bow    :D

Oh, and it was your typical 1 x 2 x 6 foot board.  Glued on a handle and made a shelf.  I would've been lost without TradGang

 

most of the board bows ive built are from the 1x2x6, they have the capacity to make pretty good shooters.tillering you want to hit your draw weight or 5# under at about ten inches of string travel before you go to a shorter string, then inch toward brace height and final draw length. my best shooter yet is from one of these board staves, built it for my sister pulls 30-33# @ 26-27" cant miss with it if i do my part. pulling it to your draw length on long string isnt like pulling it that distance after braced, youd have to pull it probably 5 inches or more to replicate that. looks good though.

That's what I was thinking.  I'll put the string on later today and finish and let you know if it's still in 1 piece.

after you get it finished be sure to adress the limb tips, you want to keep them at least 3/8 thick and take the width down to about 3/8. ive found that red oak board bows(especially longer ones) can have some hand shock if the tips are left too wide. also the tips usually bend more once braced so i leave 5 inches of mine stiff until im almost done tillering. good luck and have fun.