Good evening all! I've found myself in need of a new bow saw for green wood. My large metal monstrosity has finally bit the dust (my son ran over it.... just... I don't even know how) but while the blade was salvageable, the frame has not. So for a project I've decided to build one myself. I've got the wood picked out and the tension considerations taken care of but I'm curious if there is a good geometric rule of thumb here for deciding the length of the arms. The depth of cut will be 12", the length of the blade is 36", so I'm curious if and equal length above the span (12") would be advantageous or whether it should be shorter (or longer). Most of the old style bow and buck saws I've seen are a bit shorter on the tops of the arms...
Any suggestions would be great!