Art likes to embed pieces of broken fishing rods, which is good. But with a box beam I think you can design beam with less flex for size using composite techniques. For bows you can buy unidirectional prepreg carbon layups which solve a lot of problems right there. Then band saw to a taper that will maximize structural soundness while fitting curvey wood. Build a U channel, fill with spray urethane and add a top for a composite box beam.
Of course you need a good piece of wood to start with, it's not nice to fool Mother Nature. Fixed a .410 stock with a true firewood stock. Wood in the butt stock had warped with such strength that a sizable piece of it had popped out of the stock. Relieved stress as best I could, forced it together, and epoxied it. No idea of how long it held. Belonged to an older woman, that was her gun when she hunted with her father. Hopefully it lasted 'til she died.
On the other hand I've mused about hollowing out a stock to laminate thickness and building an internal composite stock. Certainly would solve pretty wood/stability issuers.
The engineering part is fun, The artsy part, getting al the lines right for that organic look, scares me. I think that's what fascinates me. A chamber holding 50 kpsi plus right next to a trigger that would impress a watchmaker. All in a package that well represents an architectural period all to the admiration of art aficionados. Wish - dream - that I could do it all.
Oh, on decorations. Used to spend time in the Smithsonian before I got into black Powder. But what impressed me most was all the shiny crap people added to guns. Particularly trade guns. About 5 pounds of brass tacks in one trade rifle. So anything you make is authentic in one sense or another.
The second was the collection of old uniforms, dating back to pre-revolutionaty days. We are giants by comparison.
