Holmegaard tiller.....oh boy?!?!

[Hank]

My second Holmegaard style bow is tillered but I'm not at all pleased with how it turned out. It's too round imo. It seems to me that the way it turned out is due primarily to technique. When tillering I always work from the fade to the tip to get the limb moving close to the handle first. This works fine for me on a limb that tapers in thickness from fade to tip. This technique backfired on me on this flat limb bow. First, I hinged one limb coming off of the handle but was able to fix it with an underlay. Both limbs bend too much coming off the handle which, I'm thinking, is because this area was overworked. Is it better to start tillering this type of limb from the middle and work out from there? It's obviously too late for this one to do anything different but the next one will be better. What should (can) be done different to make the next one better?

The pic shows it pulling 53# @ 25" with equal length vertical side to side comparison lines added.


Hank

[Pappy]

Never built a Homy. but I always leave the area at the fads till last on all my bows, It always
wants to bend there first and if you get any set there it really shows up bad at the tips plus it is very easy[at least for me] to get a hinge there like you did. Looks like a good save.
   Pappy

[Hank]

Thanks Pappy. We'll definitely stay away from the handle until the very last on the next one. Always the learning curve huh?

[Little John]

It might just be a bit of being in a hury or not paying total attention. It happens and to me on my last bow. I have got to get the tillering  and bow pulling set up on a  wall where it is easier to see the bending. Have always just used the tillering stick. Any way while your bow might not be perfect it still looks like a nice shooter.     Kenneth

[Cameroo]

Hank, forgive me if I'm stating the obvious, but here's my 2 cents. (This may have nothing to do with it, but...)

When scraping, you might want to begin your scrapes up the fades a bit more, almost at the handle.  If you start your scrapes at the same spot every time (at the fade), it's not hard to dig a groove there without noticing, which could easily become a hinge.

I also don't think that it's a good idea to start on one specific portion of the limb.  I scrape the length of the limb until I see a stiff spot on the tree, then work a few scrapes in that area followed by a few more the length of the limb.

[Hank]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Your comments make sense. This one did come together pretty fast, apparently too fast. I've been making bows for a several years now but working on this style of bow brought out the rookie builder. But it's all part of the bow making process- building and learning.

Hank