Tillering Advice

[Don]

It looks good so far. Just take a deep breath and go slow.
Check and double check.
These guys are all giving you good advice.
I just broke an osage that was almost where I wanted it. All I could do was grab another one and start again.
You'll make it work.

[bubby]

first off relax, pd and del gave you a lot of good info, a pulley system may be safer, don't know never used one, don't unstring it everytime you scrape on it, I do most of my tillering with a knife and I don't cut the string, and it helps you leave the tips a little stiff, and I have pulled a few bows past weight and my bows come out pretty darn flat so if you went past weight a bit don't sweat it, stay away from the fades about 6" for now, tiller look's good, go slow and easy, when you brace the bow set it in the corner for an hr or two and let her sweat some, Bub

[danny f]

wow dont go burning that bow, i was only advising from what i have read and been told, i am a noob too i have only built 3 bows, so am far from an expert.  the work you have done looks good so stick with it. when you start getting peeved go and have a brew. i go through galllons of tea while making a bow lol. good luck with it.

[sleek]

Wow, lots of good advice, and lots of " First off's ".

Lets simplify this. ALLOT.

Your bend looks perfect between both sides. Most struggle with that. Even folks that have made many. You nailed it first time. Keep the fire away from this stick. You dont make bows with fire. ( Nobody mention heat treating, SIMPLE remember? ) Fire+bow= wasted time.

It is ok when on the long string to pull somewhat past your final draw weight. Because of the angle the string against your tips on a long string, the weight you pull is artificially high. You arent actually pulling what your scale says you are until you get a shorter string on there. It is a tip to string angle/leverage thing.

Now here is where we concentrate on what you need to do.

Your fades from where your handle is blending into your limb is the ONLY problem you are facing right now. You are too close to a sharp angle and sharp angles concentrate stress. Stress concentrated breaks bows. You have plenty of room to fix it though. Just look at the bows in the bow gallery to get an idea of how the limbs should blend into the handle. Nice and smooth transition. Bubby gave good advice on saying stay away 6 inches from them for now. That keeps the fades from bending untill you get them more smooth.

The second and last thing you need to do ( until you get your fades fixed ) is put a shorter string on the bow. You need a string that is 3 to 4 inches shorter than the bow itself. I always set my 4 fingers closed together from the nock of the bow and that is where your string should stop. That gives you about 6 inches of brace height, allowing for string stretch.

Your tiller tree is ok. Its a taste thing. Good arguments either way for it. I personally dont and never have used one.

[George Tsoukalas]

Dad was a woodworker and carpenter. I helped him build houses. I grew up with a hammer in my hands. Woodworking became my hobby as an adult. Yet, when I started making bows, I needed 14 tries to get a hunting weight shooter spread over 3 years. Stay the course. You are getting good advice. My site may help too. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/index.html

[adb]

OK... here's some visual advice for tillering tree set up:

I screwed a half sheet (4X8) of 3/8" plywood to the wall under a shop light. I screwed a 2X4 with a top shelf in the middle of the plywood, being certain it was level. The shelf is 4" wide (the width of my hand) and 4" deep. The first reference line is 6" below the shelf (that's my final full brace height). I have a single pulley at the bottom, a 12" round handle at the end of the rope, and enough rope to be about 10 - 12' from the tiller tree while working the bow. The scale is in line, and big enough that I can see the draw weight all the time. I put draw length reference marks in inches on the vertical 2X4, up to 32" for warbows.

So, draw to your final desired weight, and look at the draw length. Remove wood, rinse, repeat. I find the stave will usually move about 1/2" in draw length with each scraping session. Keep going, until you reach final draw length and weight, being careful not to pull past final desired draw weight.

If I want to look at the bow while tillering at a static length, I hold the bow at that length and take a picture. I download the picture to my laptop, and then I have all the time in the world to look at tiller without hurting the bow. I usually have my laptop out in the shop while I'm tillering, especially towards the end.

This set up is an evolution over about 3 years. I used to drill a deck screw into the 2X4 at each draw length mark, so I could ststically leave the bow drawn, but no more. I also didn't use an in line scale before... I used to just guess, and then measure final draw weight. No more. This set up has reduced the final set my bows are taking by about half.

[adb]

Keep in mind, the draw length reference marks are from the top of the shelf, which would be the BELLY of the bow. I measure my draw length from the BACK of the bow, so when tillering, I subtract the thickness of the bow. Example, the bow shown on the tiller tree is 1" thick. I wanted 28" final draw length. So, I tillered the bow to 27" to compensate for the bow's thickness. For this bow, I wanted 50#@28", so I tillered it to 48#@27". The usual change in draw weight is 2-5# per inch of draw length. It came out to 53#@28"... close enough.

[bubby]

adb, just wondering if you subtract the thickness of the bow  from the measurement on the tree and you want 50# @28" wouldn't you want 50# @ 27"on the tree? seems that if 27 on the tree is really 28 you would want your target weight at the 27" mark, Bub

[adb]

adb, just wondering if you subtract the thickness of the bow  from the measurement on the tree and you want 50# @28" wouldn't you want 50# @ 27"on the tree? seems that if 27 on the tree is really 28 you would want your target weight at the 27" mark, Bub

Yes, sorry, you're right.