Anyone here not use a tillering tree/stick?

[Dictionary]

I use  a mirror too but Dictionary is asking for ancient methods. Jawge

sadly enough we weren't here to see them use the ancient methods.

It seems sighting down the limbs while pushing on the string, floor tillering, and pulling on the bow on the ground while your foot is planted on the handle to check bend evenness is about as ancient as it goes.

[Christian Soldier]

I'm kind of a minimalist, that and I haven't gotten around to making a tillering tree so I don't use one. 

I use a mirror or any reflection I can get. Short of that just try to lean over and see the tiller as well as you can while bending it.  I normally just go from floor tillering to loose string tillering. Its usually pretty obvious if there's some area I need to work on.
Thickness checking often can also help with staves on the clean side.

And once I get a taught string and a low brace I can back up a bit and really see what I need to work on.

[toomanyknots]

I don't see why our ancestors wouldn't of used a tiller tree, possibly made out of an actual tree with a broken limb at man height, with notches cut out to accompany the string at various draws. The only technology needed is that of stone tools, to saw the notches on the tree. If anything I would think our ancestors would have been resourceful and clever, and would of had many ways and tricks to tiller bows though. Bcgrover does make very nice bows, with spot on tillers, using his method btw. He posts over on paleoplanet now and then.

EDIT: On second thought though, many of our ancestors were nomads, and most likely would of had better methods for making bows than solely using trees, such as Bcgrovers method.

[Dictionary]

I don't see why our ancestors wouldn't of used a tiller tree, possibly made out of an actual tree with a broken limb at man height, with notches cut out to accompany the string at various draws. The only technology need is that of stone tools, to saw the notches on the tree. If anything I would think our ancestors would have been resourceful and clever, and would of had many ways and tricks to tiller bows though. Bcgrover does make very nice bows, with spot of tillers, using his method btw. He posts over on paleoplanet now and then.

EDIT: On second thought though, many of our ancestors were nomads, and most likely would of had better methods for making bows than solely using trees, such as Bcgrovers method.

Im sure there would be SOMETHING recorded about their devices used to tiller them IF THEY USED THEM. Im sure a few souls may have experimented with cutting notches in a tree and all that but if they were able to tiller without them, why bother making them?

I just find it strange many here cannot tillering without one. As soon as the wood gets bending...."time to put it on the block and attach the s hook and get that rope and pulley working". Nothing wrong with that thinking, but its just a thought.

[soy]

I either put my string on the Vice handle And Work the bow Watching the bend or do the same thing by standing on the string... although this weekend I finally got around to build a tree time will tell if that will replace my method on straight wood... definitely need to do the character staves by hand though

[Del the cat]

@ Dictionary...
"I just find it strange many here cannot tillering without one."
I think you are jumping to conclusions. Just because someone uses a tillering tree it doesn't mean they 'cannot' without one.
I used a ladder to get up my Cherry tree to lop it, but I could have climbed it without one if I'd wanted.
Del

[Marc St Louis]

A straight limb bow is easily tillered by feel and by the braced profile of the bow, of course experience helps here

[Pappy]

Del.  thats good. I use both most of the time,stick till I get it braced and tree out to 24 or so and then by feel or looks,then the tree again to measure final weight at the draw length I want. I see no reason not to use one.  I have used the mirror but they always get broke in my shop and still use the friend method and that works pretty good if your friend know what they are looking at. Most of mine do.
   Pappy

[Dictionary]

@ Dictionary...
"I just find it strange many here cannot tillering without one."
I think you are jumping to conclusions. Just because someone uses a tillering tree it doesn't mean they 'cannot' without one.
I used a ladder to get up my Cherry tree to lop it, but I could have climbed it without one if I'd wanted.
Del

  Well played.

[Mark Anderson]

The best way I've found to filler without a tree or a filler stick is to hold the bow in my right hand with the back of the bow against my cheek at the handle. I push the string away from my face with my left hand and sight down the limb. I think you see stiff spot much better that way. Yiu just need to remember what it looked like when you flip the limbs and check the other one to keep them even. 
I just built for bows that way at my inlaws because I have no filler tree here.
Mark

[k-hat]

I've been wondering about the old English bowyers back during ELB's "golden age."  Did the english bowyers medieval and more recent use any kind of tiller system? 

[k-hat]

Well come on Del, I'm waitin' 

[Del the cat]

Well come on Del, I'm waitin' 

I have no idea how medieval bowyers did it, they had rope, their workshop probably was timber framed with convenient trenails protruding to hang bows on.
Maybe there is no record, because they simply didn't consider it a tool... it's just a bit of rope.
I'd guess they probably didn't bother with weights, or if they did, it wasn't a calibrated weight in the modern sense. Possibly just a big stone and some marks made on a beam.
I use string when marking out a bow, but if I did an inventory of my workshop I wouldn't include string, and I won't be mentioning it in my will!
Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.
Making bows for the war effort could easily have been 'making bows by numbers', get 'em up to floor tiller and move 'em out for the next guy to trim 'em up and put on nocks... dunno, I don't think anyone does. I've read theories which didn't stand up to close examination, so I think it's better to confine ourselves to facts rather than conjecture.
But... if we are allowed to dream, then maybe they had buxom wenches helping them... yeah, that works for me
Can I quit and have my dinner now?
Del

[sleek]

Oh Lord... And que the buxom wenches, hard wood, bent wood, wood with reflex, and my chopping hand is stronger than the other jokes.... Or am I just sick?

[bushboy]

Maybe the ancients used a straight branch with a scorch limb shoulder?primitive tillering gizmo!sorry eric!lol!