First bow.... tiller help.

[Baldmoose]

so i'm fairly new to making bows.... attempted a hickory self bow b4 and learned the hard way not to use power tools.... developed a huge hinge and couldnt seem to get rid of it....   it chrysaled and then blew.  Can you guys take a look and tell me what you think.....  hemp twine backed maple board bow....  it had a risor until this morning where it popped off.   dont know exactly where to go from here.

[paulsemp]

looks good but i would take a little more off the left limb from the tip to about mid limb and a little less off the other tip

[Del the cat]

Outer 2/3 of each limb isn't doing much. You've got the middle flexing, leave that alone and ease off the the outer limbs.
Hold a CD up in front of the screen and  move it towards your eye to try and match the edge of the CD to the curve of the bow and you'll see what I mean.
Del

[Baldmoose]

Outer 2/3 of each limb isn't doing much. You've got the middle flexing, leave that alone and ease off the the outer limbs.
Hold a CD up in front of the screen and  move it towards your eye to try and match the edge of the CD to the curve of the bow and you'll see what I mean.
Del

Thank you Del,
The CD trick is very helpful.  Running outside to do some scraping.  thanks again.

[Baldmoose]

looks good but i would take a little more off the left limb from the tip to about mid limb and a little less off the other tip

Yeah i noticed that too.   looks alittle worse then it is because of the slight twist.... i plan on fixing that during final tillering.  thanks for the words of wisdom guys....  Hopefully she works out and i can get started on the next one.

[Slackbunny]

http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=001047

Check this out. Its a tillering gizmo. I find it very useful for making sure I get my tiller right, and it works great on board bows because they typically have nice flat surfaces to run the tool over. Very easy to make and its worth the time.

Or if you don't feel like making that you can just run a flat piece of wood along the limb and look at the gap between the piece of wood and the limb. Larger gap means more bend in that spot, smaller gap means less bend. It will show you very precisely where you are bending and where you are stiff. 

[Baldmoose]

http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=001047

Check this out. Its a tillering gizmo. I find it very useful for making sure I get my tiller right, and it works great on board bows because they typically have nice flat surfaces to run the tool over. Very easy to make and its worth the time.

Or if you don't feel like making that you can just run a flat piece of wood along the limb and look at the gap between the piece of wood and the limb. Larger gap means more bend in that spot, smaller gap means less bend. It will show you very precisely where you are bending and where you are stiff.

Thanks alot.... i will be making this today:D:D

[Baldmoose]

So here it is.   i wanna finish it..... i think i took too much off in the outer limbs.....   seems fairly good though...... remember its my first bow.  just wanna see if anyone notices anything i should touch up on before i finish it.

[Del the cat]

That's great.
You havn't taken too much off the outer... it just feels like it 'cos they end up soooo skiny it's scarey .
Good job.
It looks pretty good on the CD test, just a teensy bit out on the lower limb, last 1/3 slightly stiff, but that's fine, the very outer tips are often left stiff.
Don't mess with it any more! Enjoy your bow!
Del

[Buckeye Guy]

Good job !!
Call it a bow and go shoot it awhile !
Then give it a finish !!
Guy

[Weylin]

better get started on your next one! 

[Baldmoose]

Thanks alot guys, My second bow is gonna be a hickory self bow.  got the stave roughed out.  looking good so far.

[Weylin]

my first bow was a hickory self bow. It's a good wood to learn on. I recommend doing a wide, flat pyramid design. That design will take advantage of the benefits of hickory and down play it's weaknesses. You'll hopefully take less set this way.

[Baldmoose]

so Nativenoobowyer86 came over with his tillering stick and scale today.  It pull 45lbs at 28 in.   Im pretty stoke i finially made a bow.  its 60in nock to nock.  1 5/8 at the fades tapering down to 1/2in at the nocks
.   Handle is 1 1/8 wide.....   Set is 1 1/4 in but settles to a 7/8 after a few minutes.  woot first bow

[tattoo dave]

Nice job moose!! Thats a sweet #1, thats for sure. I love those bendy handle bows. I have popped a lot of handles off myself, Sometimes I build up the handle with layers of leather, glue it up then you can just cut to shape, cover it with whatever floats your boat, and it will flex with the bow. A friend we call halfeye taught me that little trick

Tattoo Dave