laminated longbow questons

[redneckrocket]

My brother and I are in the process of building our first longbows.

My first question is will flat grain maple be ok for the limb laminations. We couldnt get any 6/4 to cut for edge grain.

Secondly, we are trying to figure out the limb thickness for a 64" bow for 55# @ 28". The only chart I can find is on binghams website and they say .391 IIRC. What is the limb with on this, it doesnt say? we stacked up all the laminations and fiberglass and it seems extremely thick. were going for a 1 1/4" width.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[redneckrocket]

also has anyone used smooth-on without a hotbox? according to 3rivers and the can you can use it at 25 degrese but let it dry for at least 24 hrs. im a little leary of this though.

[Short Draw]

I just built two longbows.
Used two .120 bamboo lams and two .040 glass.
So .320 thick limbs made a 68 inch 47@28 longbow.
So if you remove 4 inches from the bow you will get get an increase of about 8 pounds.
Also my bow is 1 1/2 inches at the fadeouts and 1/2 inch at the tips with a 19 inch riser.

Buddy uses Smooth On without a hotbox with good results.
I use a hotbox set at 180 degrees that cooks the bow in 2 hours.

Bow works quite well too.

Erich