Twist, remove wood from which side

[dane lund]

Building another hickory board bow. Both nock ends are twisting. Looking from the nock to the handle, both ends are twisting counterclockwise. Which side do I remove material from to straighten them out??
Thanks in advance.

[richardzane]

pictures might help , also knowing how much you have reduced the tips, and have they been reflexed?

you might be able to clamp it in the handle and simply use a heat gun and heat the belly from mid limb down and using a "wrench" (i made a wood one)
gently torc it clockwise a little past where you want it to be, hold it in place til the wood is cool and release.
i just straightened a reflexed persimmon bow a couple days ago with this same method and it worked perfectly.

[dane lund]

Richard,
I think I mentioned before, this is a board bow. It seems to be straight, then when I brace it, the twist shows up. I've measure both sides in several places, and it's pretty even, side to side. It's interesting that they are opposite directions.  I guess that makes sense though. That means the whole thing is rotating?
Kind of getting tired of board bows!!!

[bubbles]

Check this out: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,27206.msg364231.html#msg364231
Really explains it well.  I find it very hard to find this thread, because it doesn't seem to come up when you search limb twist. 

[bow101]

How wide is the bow.

[lostarrow]

You may have a slight diagonal hinge. Are you using your scraper skewed to the bow? It only takes a slight dip to make a hinge. If the hinge is on a 45deg. angle to the limb ,it doesn't show like it does with a regular hinge.(disguised)  If you are scraping with a skewed blade from the handle out  on each limb  it will corkscrew on you. I'm guessing your cross section is nearly rectangular. Generally the string will track to the weak side. Try closing your eyes and running  the limb between your thumb and fingers to try to feel for any dips. The twist might also be coming from right out of the fades. if the taper isn't consistent from side to side on the fades ,and you start scraping the limb you will quickly ruin the bow(unless you like a 12# bow). If it's a board bow  with wide limbs, the grain of the board might be adding to the problem. not all growth rings are created equal. Are the rings on a slight angle from perpendicular (or parallel) to the back of the bow ?  Pics of the bow might help.

[George Tsoukalas]

I was once gifted a yew stave. Naturally, I wanted to make a nice bow from it. I tillered slowly and carefully even to the point of using outside calipers to make sure side to side wood removal was even. I almost never use them. Wood removal was even.

Sure enough I strung her up and she was a leaner even though wood removal was right on and even. String tracked to far from center to make me happy..actually close to the edge, if I remember. I fixed her by removing wood from the high side of each limb with a scraper and checking for the correction often by flexing her at a very partial draw.

Wood is not uniform even across a stave so just recognize it and fix the problem.

Jawge

[dane lund]

OK, I've removed a lot of wood from the other side. The string is back in the center, but the ends are still twisted? It's tillered pretty well, doesn't seem to affect the function. Is it OK to leave the ends twisted, or will it just get worse? Should I continue till the ends are straight?

[Gordon]

As long as the string is in alignment relative to the handle, a little limb twist won't hurt anything.

[WillS]

How long is the bow?  The first thing I do when dealing with twisted ends is chop off about 1 inch from each end.  That usually does the job just fine, but if not and the bow isn't in danger of being too short for the intended draw length, take off another half inch.  Obviously this doesn't work if the bow is already fairly short, and definitely make sure you never take it to that point, but if you're sensible and careful with it, you should be golden.

[SLIMBOB]

If we are talking prop twist, and I believe we are, I never or almost never mess with it.  As Gordon said, if the string is tracking down the center, it should be fine.  I wont even worry about the string being off center if it shoots well off center.  I'm talking stave bows and this is a board, but I would think it applies both ways.  Show us some pics!

[dane lund]

Well,here it is.  I just don't want to go any further.  Down to about 20lbs right now.  That is OK, its for my 4 yr old grandson.
Seems to function well.  Only shows up on full brace.
What would you do??

[Cameroo]

The wood will twist toward the weak side (in this picture, that would be the left side).  If you scrape some wood from the right half of the belly, it should take some of that twist out.  Apply the same concept to the other limb if it is still twisting.