tillering question

[cryostallion]

hello everyone, just began tillering my first bow and i'm wondering about something- hopefully i can make this clear... in the following pics you can see that while unstrung, the lower limb has some backset and a bump on the back.  when i have the long string on it and pull on it, that limb bends a lot more than the upper (left) limb, BUT the upper limb is still lower- so my question is do i have to keep taking wood off the lower (right) limb until it is at the same level as the upper limb?  as it is, the lower limb is quite a bit thinner and i'm hesitant to take any more off until i can get this cleared up.  i hope this makes sense 
-pat

[George Tsoukalas]

I know it is hard learning to build  bows. Believe me I know. The limbs are not bending well. The left limb needs to bend more near the handle. The right limb does not begin to bend until about mid limb. I too needs to bend much closer to the end of the handle. The bending on both limbs should start at the end of the fades. Mark that area with a pencil so you can see it in t tree. Never pull a stave beyond what it takes to expose a problem. Until you fix the bending I would not yank that stave very far. Those limbs see pretty thick to be bending at all. There are buildalongs on my site.
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/
Jawge

[Cameroo]

I would put a shim (of folded paper or a wedge of wood) between the bow handle and the tiller tree on the left side so that your limbs sit level before they start to bend.  It will be much easier to eyeball what is going on with the limbs if they start from the same plane.

[sailordad]

if you take georges advise,you cant go wrong
hes very god at htis and very knowledgable


but i do have to ask you a question
is that a pic of Arte Johnson from Rolin & Martins Laugh In from the 70's?
if so , way cool dude.i loved that show.
not to mention Goldie Hawn in her knee high go go boots (droooooooool)

[tombo]

Verrrry interresting...Like George says.

[cryostallion]

george-thanks for the pointers!  i'll check out your build alongs, too.  i'll get back at it tomorrow and maybe post some more pics for advice

cam-  i'll try a shim...so i should be shooting for them bending down to the same horizontal plane or what?  that's what i'm curious of.


...and yes that's arte johnson. 

[Cameroo]

I'm just saying for me, if the tips are level before I start bending, it helps my eye perceive what's happening when they're bending.  If you have some kind of board behind with level horizontal lines, it helps keep things even too.  It's not very primitive, but I even use a camera and photo editing software to superimpose an ellipse or circle onto the picture to see how I'm doing, like in this picture.  I'm no expert - this is only my second bow, but this seems to be working well for me!  You should trust your eye, but this helps confirm that you're heading down the right track.  Good luck!

[cryostallion]

well, i screwed it up.

i almost don't even want to post photos of the end result it's so ugly, but what the hell.  i had a sixty pound bow, but the lower limb was reaaaaaaally stiff, so i stuck it in my vice, still strung, thinking i would just take a little off, started filing- and boom- 40 lb bow.  LOL

i did what i promised myself i wouldn't do, and got hasty.

on top of everything else- MASSIVE set.

it's 74" ntn, so i'm thinking i could take an inch off both limbs and maybe get a better bow out of the whole fiasco.
any thoughts on that?

[youngbowyer33]

well, the right limb is pretty good. i would either make it really light (20lbs) and correct the tiller on that left limb, or cut it in half and use the right limb for a splice or a take down. JMO

[George Tsoukalas]

In all fairness that limb ion the right is on a different plane making for a very tough tiller. Get you a nice straight stave and have it. Jawge

[cryostallion]

a take down would be sweet!  then i could take it with me on my motorcycle

george, i've got some better looking staves all ready to go.  i'll do better next time hopefully...

any tips on minimizing set on the next one?

-pat

[mullet]

Pat, the one good thing you can learn from that last picture is look at how consistant your wood thickness is on the left limb. And then look at the right one. You can see where the limb takes a dip is where the wood is the thinnest.

 It's all a learning process and we have all been there. And that bow is still salvageable. You can back it, lam it, or pike it.  We can walk you through it.

[cryostallion]

hi eddie,
i am assuming you meant the other way around talking about the limbs...but yea, i can see the lighter color on the edge get way thin right where it dips.

what's pike it?

[mullet]

 Yea, I did mean the other way around. Piking it is cutting the limbs off shorter. It will stiffen the draw weight and you can take your time tillering and fine tuning in the screwed up spots. You don't say how long it is so we don't know how much you have to work with.

[cryostallion]

somewhere i wrote it's 74" ntn, so it's plenty long!  i may try that, and if all else fails turn it into a bow for one of my little siblings
gonna have to make them sooner or later anyway!