Target Bow Weight?

[DV IN MN]

When making a bow for yourself weight is your normal target weight before you start? Do you normally come out 2-3 lbs with in that target? How?  Sand Paper and patience while tillering? Proper physics with your layout?

[Kegan]

Depending on the design (if it's too new or something) and my patience, I use Badger's No Set Tillering and get my weight and 1" or set or less.

Should be in the Archive/Reference section.

[M-P]

DV,  Kegan's answer/ method is great, but may not be obvious to you.    The easiest way to think of it, is to lay out the bow to your fancy.   Then start tillering the bow slowly.   Once you have the stave cut out to rough dimensions and starting to bend evenly with floor tillering, you put on a long tillering string and begin bending the stave on a tillering tree, or a tillering stick.   The most important thing is to never, never, never pull the bow to a heavier weight than your target weight!
If you want a 40 pound bow, just never pull the stave with more than 40 pounds of force. If your lay out is too short or too narrow you will run into difficulties, but most bow building books will help you avoid that. 
Badger's no set method takes that advice as given and then works from there to maximize bow speed.  Look up his "no set tillering" in other threads.  Ron

[Del the cat]

For me it's mostly experience and feel, you soon get an idea of how a bow of a certain draw weight should feel when floor tillered.
But if you get it up on the tiller as soon as there is any flex at all you should be ok.
Many years ago I made my first decent longbow of Elm, I worked in a factory with an archer who was a big gruff bear of a man (he was nice as pie really) who knew I'd just finishing the bow.
I took the bow into work to measure it on the big dial gauge in the environmental lab' and I bumped into this guy on the way in...
He took the bow from me, flexed it against his foot, thought for a second then shoved it back into my hand saying 'Sixty pounds' as he turned and walked off.
At lunchtime I went to the lab and pulled it back a few inches at a time noting the weight and length, eventually I got back to 28".
Del
(Oh yeah, it was 60# spot on!)

[Kegan]

Badger's no set method takes that advice as given and then works from there to maximize bow speed.  Look up his "no set tillering" in other threads.  Ron

No set jsut lets a bow scale tell you when you're getting set or need to remove wood rather than your eyes. I personally think it's loads easier, as I don't trust my eyes to disener curves and whoop-te-dos very well at all. Faster to tiller a bow too.

[DV IN MN]

 Thanks, I am trying to hit 62+ and continue to get high 40's low 50's, I thing I need to add 1/16-1/8 in. on my dimensions and a little width. Maybe a few more bows and I'll have my design and all down to were I can start to hit the weight A I desire.

[crooketarrow]

   I do it like this,when to get to food tiller. I never go past the target weight I want. This over stress's your limbs. Never over stress your limbs.This the main reason for string follow. I use a tillering tree with a scale not Noach's you don't want to stress your limbs and leaving it in place this will do this some. Never go pass your target weight.  I file the limbs check the tiller as I go NEVER going over your target weight. I can't stress this enough. When you get to the weight you want keep tillering removeing the wood until you get the draw leanth you want. Never go straight to your target weight at the lenth you want. WORK TO IT I finish a hair heavy (pound) after I finish sanding this takes a pound off. Then you have the finished weight you wanted. You get the bow weight to draw lenth you want everytime.

[George Tsoukalas]

I usually can get within a couple of pounds of the  weight I want but I've been making bows for a long time and it has taken me a long time to get to that point...a long, long time. LOL. The easiest way to do it is to always pull to target weight and that is it. The caveat is the limbs have to be bending well from the start so that you don't stress them and it does stress them. There is another way which I learned from Jim Fetrow. Now I try to get the limbs bending well at 40-45 # and 20 in of draw. I hit draw eight at 25 in and ease it into 26 in as I shoot it for the first time. Jawge