Can I Trim this to fix it?

[Clean_Missed]

Ok. Here is the problem. This is the second bow Im building on my own. Unbacked maple and 72" OAL, 70" N2N, 1-5/8" at the fades to 1/2" at the tips. I've been tillering and have made the rookie mistake of arriving at my intended draw weight(50#@29").... with terrible tiller. So, I kept going to try and get the tiller to an acceptable point. So here I am, a bow thats 40# @ 28(not 29) that looks more like a war club than a bow that has gobs of hand shock. The question I am posing to everyone is whether i am pushing my luck to consider trimming the tips off to get a bit shorter bow with less handshock, 50# draw weight at 28"( there was some confusion over my buddies draw length) and that chance to redo my tips since these ones turned out terribly in my opinion. Am I going to end up whip tillered with an overstressed bow? I have some goat rawhide strips here i could try to back it with if I had too. Or do I abandon the project, begin again and be happy that I got a bow out of this at all. Its a gift for my future brother-in-law and my sister is paying for the materials. I would really like to end up with something that will look decent and and be a shooter. Opinions and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[burchett.donald]

At that length you can pike it and heat treat to bring weight back up. Take an inch off each side at a time and see what it weighs.
                                         Don

[budgolf]

I don't know man, I don't think the tiller looks that bad.

[Fred Arnold]

I don't think the tiller looks that bad either. The first osage bow I built came out way under weight so I reduced it 1 " on each end, flipped the tips "lightly" and heat treated the belly. It still ended up 5# below and it had terrible hand shock. I've built a dozen since then and haven't encountered the same problems although I will admit I haven't yet built  my perfect bow.

I would attempt the above suggestions. Don't fret over it, they will keep getting better.

[bow101]

I guess what Don says,...  Maybe glue a lam on the back to bring the weight up and lighten the tips to get rid of the hand shock.   I have been lucky never had a bow with hand shock. 

[SLIMBOB]

It does not look that bad to me.  It's not whip tillered, and if it was that would mean it's not terribly over stressed.  A whip tillered bow will typically not have handshock.  I guess I'm questioning, not your tillering skills, but your analysis of what you have.  72 inches is long.  Cut an inch off each end and your still ok IMO.  It would help to see an unbraced pick, but heat in some reflex and temper it after you cut the tips.  See what you get, but I think it looks pretty good.  If your at 40lbs, that should raise it a good bit.

[Clean_Missed]

Thanks for all the advice so far. I guess I should clarify what I'm after a bit. I was unhappy with my tiller when I arrived at my initial 50#. I kept tillering till it was at what I thought was an acceptable point(my full draw picture) but it was down to 40# by thAt point. Now my goal is to bring the poundage back up to 50# at 28" and eliminate some hand shock without compromising the integrity of the bow. I'll put a few pictures up of braced, unbraced, tips, etc a bit later today. Thanks again for everyone's input thus far. It sure helps the learning curve having experienced bowyers to bounce ideas off of. 

[Fred Arnold]

After revisiting and taking a closer look I agree with SLIMBOB. My thinking is if you  pike it 1" on each end you may pick up 5# and from looking at it on paint it sure doesn't seem to be whip tillered. First thing I would do is shorten it and check it again.

[Clean_Missed]

I am pretty new to this and have never heard the term "pike" before. Does this mean trim the tips? Sorry for the elementary question.

[4dog]

cut an inch off each end ...thats pikeing...have you tried a heavier arrow...might reduce that "bump"  that seems like handshock but isnt...i call it a pleasent thump...lol

[IdahoMatt]

I agree with what's been said.  I would trim the tips you could reduce them to 3/8" wide.  That should help a little with the bump in the hand too.

[Clean_Missed]

Ok, here are a few other pictures as requested SLIMBOB. My picture of it braced didn't turn out so ill get that up later. Right now based on replies so far, Im thinking that I will take 1" off each tip and see where I end up for weight. There is also one edge of the bottom limb I'm a bit concerned about as there looks to be some rings running off the edge. Is it bad enough a person should be backing? Thanks in advance for your replies.

[SLIMBOB]

Here's my thoughts...it looks pretty good my opinion.  40lbs is not a bad weight.  It's taken some set.  If you pike it, it will likely take more set.  You can lessen that by loosening up the inner limbs a little but your handle might pop off.  If it were mine, I would temper and add a little reflex to get the tips back in front of the handle.  I'd pretty it up and call it good at 45lbs or so.
Round all the edges of your overlays up.  Looks good for a second bow.

[adb]

Only tiny fault I can see in your tiller is the fade of your top limb is a bit stiff. It's definitely not whip tillered.

Piking does work, but I'm not a big fan. It just means you've made an error and ended up somewhere you didn't want to be. Also, if you're going to back a bow, do it before you tiller it. If the bow survives unbacked, it didn't need to be. Backing it after won't save you later, eliminate set, or add draw weight if it's rawhide.

Try and refine your tips a bit more. They can be smaller.

I wouldn't muck with heat treating yet, either. Tiller out some more bows first. Get your skill level up and your eye sharpened, and then get fancy.

For you, the learning curve right now will be very steep. You will likely make small mistakes often right now, but every one of them will be a valuable lesson.

You're doing really good, Bud! You're cranking out some bows and they're all surviving. Carry on!

[Blaflair2]

If the bow is 40# @28" then at 29" it should be around 43# heat treat and reflex a bit and it could possibly make weight. The fades could use a little bending IMO but that'd more than likely drop more weight. If u pike it then u have to retiller. 72" long is still plenty of length.

U can always steam the ends and put hooks on