Help appreciated with 1st BBI; please

[dragonman]

Red Dwarf,  the last bow I made was boo backed ipe  66" long, I glued on the boo with about 2 1/2" of reflex and the bow ended up with 1" of reflex, so it took 1 1/2", of set overall, I thought that was quite reasonable, if that is any help

[Red Dwarf]

I guess what I am really unsure of is exactly how to proceed: do I just continue to lose weight from the entire limb or should I keep away from the areas that have taken the most set or should I try to reduce the amount of work being done by the belly by trapping the back a little in the mid-limb areas.........?

Red Dwarf

[mullet]

  James Parker, Robustus, makes some of the finest, fastest Bamboo backed bows, and his reasoning behind leaving the rind on is scraping and sanding can lead to lifting a splinter. BB bows sure look ugly wrapped with sinew. I quit doing it and have no trouble staining it. I just use a fine steel wool. James also has a lifetime warranty on all his bows, so it must work.

[dragonman]

definately keep away now from the areas that have taken the most set and by the looks of the tiller so far it will work out, I dont see how you can avoid working on the belly because I dont think you have surplus width, to tiller it width-ways.

[Red Dwarf]

I have done a little more scraping trying to get things moving a little sooner out of the dips and have decided to put it in the drying box for a few days to make sure that MC isn't a problem.
Will report back for more advice when I get it back on the tillering tree.

Thanks for all of the help so far.

Red Dwarf

[M-P]

I'll be interested to har what ( if any) difference the hot box made.  It's my impression that really dense tropical woods like ipe take a long time to dry and I suspect that the change in MC you can make with a couple of days in a hot box is going to be pretty minor.   Ron

[Rich Saffold]

48#@23" I'd be giving it a good sanding, letting it sit strung for a few hours, and start shooting it. often its going to relax a bit while shooting it in. I'm usually checking the tiller while shooting it and seeing how it feels.

At this point very little needs to be removed  and why sanding when you have a good tiller is less likely to change things much. Often when I'm shooting I'll be using a scraper lightly as the limbs work some. But what I'm removing can barely be seen, and is usually finer than using 600grit paper.

So be patient, take plenty of time.  I'd make sure that hot box isn't too dry. Bamboo doesn't do so well when it gets too dry, and  part of the reason I like to keep the rinds on. Bamboo being a grass can't recover from being a little too dry like most woods can.

[Red Dwarf]

My drying box is currentyl at 35 deg C., not sure what that is in deg. F, and 23% RH.
This is my first time with a drying box as per Dean Torges. Is this too dry already?

Red Dwarf

[Rich Saffold]

Red Dwarf, 50% relative humidity is about 8% mc and this is ideal. So your box is at  about 4% and thats too dry for most finished bows as well. unless they are a little green/wet. I really don't think your bow is going to need drying any more than what the surrounding average is . I've shot these bows non stop in Missouri summers when its the most humid place in N. America and these bows hold up great. So a little more mc% is better than not enough by far.

BC shouldn't be too wet for your bows. often the house heaters keep the air where you live plenty dry..

Rich

[Red Dwarf]

Rich

I have take the "bow to be?" out of the drying box and worked the dip areas a little more.
Here are a couple of pictures as things are now; pulling 45# @ 24" and just after removing the string.
I am reluctant to draw it any further without being certain of how to proceed. Maybe I should just sand it up as suggested and shoot a few arrows at 24" draw?

Red Dwarf


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[Rich Saffold]

Martyn,

The outer limbs are too straight, and the inner limbs about need to be bending more as well. Remember you have 63" bow with say an 8" non working handle section so the working limbs are really for a 58" bow. This makes them a little less tolerant to tillering mistakes especially on limbs that are already slender. These limbs need to start bending right out of the fades for a 28" draw and only the last few inches of the tips should be straight.

One trick I like to show new bowyers is, wearing safety glasses, look down the limb from the grip to the tip, with one hand on the grip and the other pushing out on the string where the arrow goes. This way you  can really see whether the limb is bending in an arc or has flat spots, and you can flip the bow over and compare to the other limb. This perspective amplifies the flaws and makes them easier to determine where to remove wood next. You don't have to move the limbs much to see where the problems are so the load on the string isn't scary.

Everyone sees things a little differently and I try and show them as many angles of the limbs as possible to help them see what is going on.
 
After about 50 bows, any flaw in the tiller will stick out like a sore thumb...Yer doing just fine..

Rich

[Red Dwarf]

Rich

I'll try working a little more on the dips & tips.
In your opinion is my target of 48# 28" still realistic?

Bearing this in mind, should the dips or tips get the most attention from here on in, or should I just go for good tiller and let the weight come in where it wants to?

Thanks

Red Dwarf

[John B.]

One trick I like to show new bowyers is, wearing safety glasses, look down the limb from the grip to the tip, with one hand on the grip and the other pushing out on the string where the arrow goes. This way you  can really see whether the limb is bending in an arc or has flat spots, and you can flip the bow over and compare to the other limb. This perspective amplifies the flaws and makes them easier to determine where to remove wood next. You don't have to move the limbs much to see where the problems are so the load on the string isn't scary.

Rich, I'm not quite getting what you're saying here.  Your eye is right next to the grip looking towards the tip?  One hand pushes out on the string? 

Type slowly please, some of us are a little thick...   

[Rich Saffold]

It's still realistic, but I'd focus on getting the bow to shoot as efficiently through getting the tiller right and this will get you what ever this bow is capable of at this point.

Both need attention. I think learning how these limbs need to move is part of the trick here.

 This is why I mention this little trick, and yes you want the grip along side your head so when you push out with the string you see the limbs move from outside the grip to just inside the tips an a graceful arc, the tips are moving farther, but the inner limbs are moving at the same time. If the outer limbs and inner limbs are too stiff, it will look like the limbs are two straight parts bending in the middle because this angle amplifies this perspective and often makes it easier to see these flaws in the tiller.

If you have a bow with a good tiller, even if its a glass bow try this to get an idea..then look at it on them both on the tree..

When I'm floor tillering this is how I'll be sighting down the limbs since I believe getting it right from the start makes the rest of the process easy, and why I rarely use a tillering tree unless the bows are very long and heavy..

I've seen a few "skilled/famous bowyers do this same trick" I don't know if they ever wrote about it. I've shown this trick to many over the years and they still liike using it.

Rich