tillering..

[aero86]

so, ive started my first board bow.  fairly straight growth on it, and i dont expect it to last very long, but i wanna do the tillering right.  so, basically, use long string, pull to get wood bent a bit, check for even bend, then let wood relax, then remove wood? 

[woodstick]

i use a long string till i can put on a short one and brace it. a short string will change the way it looks work slow get good even bend on the limbs dont go over your end weight.

[Grunt]

Every time you remove any wood exercise the bow on the tree by pulling it at least 20 times, I pull 40 times. Add five pounds to your target draw weight for shooting in. Go slow, be gentle, forget the phone, have fun. Don't pull it to full draw unless you have shot 20 arrows at 2/3 or 3/4 draw first.

[rileyconcrete]

go slow, exercise the wood often.

post pics if you have any questions, and you should do fine.

Tell

[aero86]

ok, thanks guys.  also, what is the best tool to use?  i have a sureform plane or a wood rasp.  im kinda leaning towards the plane, as the rasp is a bet aggressive. 

[otis.drum]

don't use either on the back of the bow. only a scraper and fine sanding.

even on the belly i would be using a scraper once it's roughly in shape and floor tillered. too easy to take too much wood with scrapers and agressive files. slow and stready wins the race!

[sailordad]

if this is your first bow and you already have it to floor tiller
i would recomend using nothing more than a scraper to finish the tillering at this point.
either the rasp or sure form could take more than ya want and you could come in way under or create hinges etc.
hate to see your first one go to pot on ya
my first several bows after floor tillering thats all i used was a scraper
it does take longer but the end results worked quit well for me,s all but my very first stave bow turned out
that one didnt only because i rushed trying to get it on the short string when it wasnt ready for it and popped a huge plnter around a knot on the back
good luck

[Del the cat]

Get your 'long' string as short as you can as quick as you can. I have a small piece of ply wood shaped with two holes in like an '8' so I can thread the string through the holes a few times to shorten it. (I've even shot a few arrows using this adjustable string, it's very handy)
What seems like a high draw weight on a long string will be much lower on a short string (due to the change in string angle a short string gives you more leverage where a long string is like a straight pull....the actual physics is tedious, but trust me)
Del

[Eric Krewson]

Make yourself one of these to tell you where to remove wood.

http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=001047#000000

[Grunt]

Use this bow as an excuse to learn scrapers. Learn to sharpen the scraper, learn to work with the grain of the wood and learn to go slow. Take off your watch. Have fun!!!

[aero86]

i may look into making one of those.  sure would help!  i used a saw to cut off to my laid out lines, and bent the pieces of wood and the wood is surprisingly flexible.  hopefully this bow will be too!. 

[aero86]

my question is, should i start on the area right after the handles to make it bend the same as the tips?  the limbs start at 1.5 then taper to .5 at the nocks. 

[Pappy]

I like to get the middle 2/3 of the limb bending first and save right out of the fads for last.I usuall leave the las 6 or 8 inches a little stiff on mine.It is easy to get a hinge right out of the fads if it bends to much to start wit,and if you get the last 1/3 of the limb bending to early it will get whip tillered easy also.
   Pappy