New Pyramid

[adb]

I haven't made a bow with parallel limbs for years.

[steve b.]

So Meare Heathe is wrong because is violates the mass principle?

[blackhawk]

Cool...

@Steve....no not really....as long as its narrow enough it doesn't...and you would need to adjust your tiller shape to a very elliptical tiller(almost whipped,but not really) that way your moving mass is moving in the right place,and will be as light as it can...make sense?

[artcher1]

 When it come to choosing the right limb design, all the books I've read leaves out the "when". They talk about back profiles dictating the braced profiles, but more or less skip "when" these particular limb designs are appropriate. I think first, you have to consider side profile before deciding on limb designs of either pyramid, parallel or somewhere in between. The right design for draw length, bow weight, handle design, arrow weight, reflex/deflex , and back deformities (or not) need to be considered into the "when".

Start you a list of "considerations" before you ever begin. First and fore most, know your wood's MC to minimize set...........Art

[adb]

So Meare Heathe is wrong because is violates the mass principle?

The MH design isn't wrong, but it isn't ideal either. That's why it's not widely used as a bow design. With the right tiller (elliptical) it'll work, but heavy tips are not ideal.

[adb]

When it come to choosing the right limb design, all the books I've read leaves out the "when". They talk about back profiles dictating the braced profiles, but more or less skip "when" these particular limb designs are appropriate. I think first, you have to consider side profile before deciding on limb designs of either pyramid, parallel or somewhere in between. The right design for draw length, bow weight, handle design, arrow weight, reflex/deflex , and back deformities (or not) need to be considered into the "when".

Start you a list of "considerations" before you ever begin. First and fore most, know your wood's MC to minimize set...........Art

I think this is where the mass principle comes in. Let the bow's design be dictated by the material.

[Arrowind]

Looks pretty good to me dude!  Nice work.  That young man is going to love it! 

You like pretty serious in those shots....glad we're not enemies.   

...we're not right?

Oh, good grief...  Well, it was cold and I was pacing to try to keep warm, and as my wife was taking the pictures, she said "hold still!" And I guess a grumpy face ermerged. That's why I look so serious I guess. Nah, the only enemy I have is Annie May, my Sea anemone enemy...

Awesome.  You know i'm joking!  I think your pics are great.
I bet you could actually hit the Sea anemone from 30 yrds.  You're shoot'n looks pretty good.


But let's get one thing straight.   When all the world goes south as long as you're on my side I'll feel better about it.   

[artcher1]

Hi Stanley ,

Hey, your bow looks nice. I'm surprised it came in at 35# at those dimensions you posted. Either the luck of the draw with that red oak or MC was a little high. Next one you make, get it floor tillered and store horizonally in conditions that'll produce 8% MC. Then see if that won't help with set.........Art

[Wooden Spring]

Hi Stanley ,

Hey, your bow looks nice. I'm surprised it came in at 35# at those dimensions you posted. Either the luck of the draw with that red oak or MC was a little high. Next one you make, get it floor tillered and store horizonally in conditions that'll produce 8% MC. Then see if that won't help with set.........Art

That's GOT to be it... I need to get a moisture meter. I'm doing everything else right, so that's the only thing I can figure is wrong with the bow that's causing set.

[artcher1]

No moisture meter required. Buy you a cheap humidity/temp gauge and use this chart.

http://www.woodworkerssource.com/moisture.php

[Wooden Spring]

No moisture meter required. Buy you a cheap humidity/temp gauge and use this chart.

http://www.woodworkerssource.com/moisture.php

OK, that was awesome! Thanks!

[Wooden Spring]

And proper moisture content for building a bow is what? 8-10%?

[artcher1]

8% for most woods. Hickory a little drier, like 6%..........Art

[steve b.]

Its a very nice bow, hlstanley.  I got carried away with your tiller question.

I struggled with set in the first several bows that I made, unless they were osage.  I thought I was tillering wrong, or pulling the bow too hard too early, etc.

I stored my bow wood, and bows, in my basement.  Finally I bought that temp/humidity gauge and found my basement sits right at 72%, on a dry day. 

I built a bow case, like a big gun case, with sealed doors and two big spot lights in the bottom.  I was going to leave those lights on all the time to "burn" up the humidity in there.  Didn't do a thing.  So I bought a $12 little heater and put in there.  Now on a dry day the humidity in the box easily drops to 40%.  All my bows picked up weight.
I now store not only bows in there but soon-to-be worked staves and bows in progress.  The set problem has largely gone away unless I screws up.

[Wooden Spring]

Its a very nice bow, hlstanley.  I got carried away with your tiller question.

I struggled with set in the first several bows that I made, unless they were osage.  I thought I was tillering wrong, or pulling the bow too hard too early, etc.

I stored my bow wood, and bows, in my basement.  Finally I bought that temp/humidity gauge and found my basement sits right at 72%, on a dry day. 

I built a bow case, like a big gun case, with sealed doors and two big spot lights in the bottom.  I was going to leave those lights on all the time to "burn" up the humidity in there.  Didn't do a thing.  So I bought a $12 little heater and put in there.  Now on a dry day the humidity in the box easily drops to 40%.  All my bows picked up weight.
I now store not only bows in there but soon-to-be worked staves and bows in progress.  The set problem has largely gone away unless I screws up.

OK, I'm stoked now... I've been storing my wood in my shop outside where I'm not sure what the humidity is, but I can see my breath in there, so that CAN'T be good...  I just bought a moisture meter so I can double check every piece of wood before I build a bow out of it - this is cool, and all this time I thought I was doing something wrong in tillering. I suppose I should have suspected something when every one of my red oak bows takes exactly the same set. Well, duh, all of the wood is stored in exactly the same place!

OK, I can't wait to try this out! I'm stuck here at work until 4:30, but so far I've measured the moisture content of my notebook, the block wall, the concrete floor, one of my coworkers...