Tiller check

[Zion]

I started a Serviceberry bow the other day and spent about an hour and a half tillering it last night. However, one of the limbs, (the lower) was deflexed while the other had a recurved tip. I can't tell if the bottom limb is bending too much in the outer 2/3. Please feel free to tell me if it's wrong. (I've already shot with the bow and it shoots good, i just want to make sure it's a survivor.)

[Zion]

oops i forgot the specs. 52" long and i'm drawing it to 25". Dunno the weight yet. Came from 1" sapling.

[tattoo dave]

 Kinda hard to read the bottom limb with the angle you are holding the bow on. But the more I look at it, I'd say it looks pretty darn good! Nice work. Ya gonna dress it up at all? handle wrap or anything like that?

Tattoo Dave

[ionicmuffin]

wow, excellent work! i like it

[Zion]

Your right, it is kinda hard to judge. I'm going to take like 20 light scrapes off the fade area just to make sure though, and then a few more on the top limb to even out the bend.

I'm thinking about staining it a dark mahogany since i only used that stain once. As far as handle wraps go, the only choice i have is that thin cotton string which i plan on wrapping it with and then gluing. I'll post the finished bow probably in a few weeks.

Thanks for lookin

[billn]

It looks pretty good, but you may have a slight hinge around 8" from the lower end.

The lower limb needs to be slightly stiffer than the upper end, due to your fingers being slightly below the center of the bow.

The best way I have found to judge relative stiffness is whether the bow shoots sweet or not. If there is a lot of hand shock, then one of the limbs is too stiff.

Careful with taking too much off the top end. I made a bow with a lot of reflex in the upper limb (about 8" unstrung). When the bow was strung, that portion was almost straight, rather than having the progressive curve of the rest of the limb. Examine it carefully on your tillering fixture. Make sure all areas bend at about the same rate as you draw the bow. Just keep in mind that the bending in some portions may be from reflex towards straight.

One of these days, I want to try a bow where the limbs are both strongly reflexed and deflexed. I don't expect it to shoot well, but would be a fun experiment - as well as being a showpiece, both braced and unbraced.

Bill

[Zion]

Thanks for the info Bill. I tillered it more and shot it in today. I took scrapes off the inner third of the bottom limb until i thought it bent more smoothly. Then i took scrapes off the entire length of the top limb until it evened out again, shooting it and exercising it in between.

Since the bottom limb was naturally deflexed, it has more set than the top limb, but i just took a little more wood off the top limb to make it even.

As for comfort of shooting, it is very smooth and doesn't have any noticeable hand shock, but then again i've never felt hand shock in any of my bows so maybe i just don't recognize it. Since i like the way it shoots and there aren't any hinges i went ahead and put a stain on it. Thanks again for advice!     

[Del the cat]

That's real nice, it's workin' pretty hard and looks great.
It's hard to judge when one limb starts with some deflex and t'other with reflex.
Looks to me like you know what you're doin' without me adding to the confusion
Del

[billn]

If it shoots smoothly and has no hinges, then you probably should leave well enough alone. I have messed up more than one bow trying to get the tiller "perfect".

I hope it last well for a long time.

Bill

[Josh B]

It looks pretty good to me, but if you really want it nitpicked to death it would help to include a pic of it unbraced so that we can see your starting profile.   Josh