From Utah. Meet Bossy, the Milked Bow.

[GlisGlis]

I will make arrows after I get a working bow.

You'll need an arrow immediatly after you tiller is complete. 
Maybe even before 

[JoJoDapyro]

I don't have any idea of what spine weight I will need. I have feathers, now only to look at some local archery shops for glue on tips and knocks. And hopefully some bare shafts.

[bubby]

I wouldn't waste my money on a surform, by a good Farriers rasp and it will make life easy removing bulk wood, has a very aggressive side and the other not so aggressive, a 6"lockback knife will work for a scraper

[JoJoDapyro]

It is getting close to tillering time. I have a basic understanding of how to, but am not educated on the ins and outs. Can anyone give a quick step by step? Thanks

[JoJoDapyro]

Here are some photos of the progress. Please feel free to give me pointers on what is good and not so good.

[bubby]

Shorten the string to about 2-3" brace height, then post a pic with about a 12" draw

[JoJoDapyro]

OK. After work I'll do just that.

[lebhuntfish]

First of all, welcome to PA! The red oak board bow is really good practice and some of the guys on here have made some really good bows from it. When I started I used everything I could get my hands on to make a string out of. I really like the para cored for the initial tillering even though  it stretches a bit. But once I get it to where I'm braceing it I make a string for it.  I was looking at your pic of your string and noticed that your twist on your Flemish loop was really long and the ends of your strands were all the same length. Try looking up "how to make a Flemish twist bow string" on you tube. There is a really good series from boarrior bows you should watch.  And also google a Flemish string jig and you will find some simple plans on how to make a string jig. Good luck and keep posting pics come reading on here and the guys will help you get started. Patrick

[JoJoDapyro]

Thanks Patrick. That was my second attempt. It took me about 10 minutes to make two. The first is the first photo of the string alone, it was far too short. I made this one for the time being, but it is nylon (even though the place I bought it said it wasn't), I am going to make my next out of Dacron. I have also learned it is difficult to tiller a bow with a shaped handle. The bow seems to be bending through the handle just a bit. I also wanted to use deer antler knocks, but I decided I should just build a bow that works first, I can get fancy later.

[lebhuntfish]

The handle thing is true. I learned to leave the handle flat on the belly side so it will sit in the tiller better. Also if it's a non bending handle just rough it out then tiller it then shape the handle later. If it is a non bending handle area and you have flex in it then you are bending too close to the fades. I'm no expert but this was my experience with that subject. 

Did you check out the string video's I told you about? You will be able to see what I was talking about. Its also better to practice on other materials before you use your dacron that way when your ready to make an actual string for your bow you will have had some practice and all of your screw ups won't be so costly. JMO. Patrick

[JoJoDapyro]

Here are the photos of the bow strung at about 3 inches brace height, and then at a 15 inch draw. I did a lot of running today and didn't get to do any work on the bow. Close to the square on the left is what looks like some set in that limb.


Patrick, I didn't have a chance to look at the videos yet, I will, as soon as I get Dacron ordered. I will practice with Nylon before making my final string. After pulling this bow to about 25 inches and letting off, the string will sag passed the 5 inch mark, within about 5 minutes its back to 3. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it. Nylon stretches a bunch.

[DuBois]

So you wanna make a bow huh?
Well you came to the right place. Welcome!

[lebhuntfish]

JoJoDapyro, ok this is the time to SLOOOW down.  First of all what kind of bow are you making? What are your dimensions? Is it a stiff handle bow or a bend through the handle bow? Have xnv smoothed out and rounded all the edges?

Do you have some sort of scale? If so I learned to never pull your stave on the tiller  part the intended draw weight. Also when your pulling your string and you notice a spot on one of your limbs

[JoJoDapyro]

I do not have a proper scale. That is something I know I need. Thanks for the reminder to slow down.

The board is Red oak. It is 70 inches nock to nock. I have a 28 inch draw length. The draw weight really isn't important, I haven't pulled a bow back in a long time, and I'm sure not up to pulling 80, and this isn't a wheelie bow with an 85% reduction. I would be happy with #40. The handle wasn't supposed to be flexy, but it is. The profile is as follows. the handle is just about full thickness of 7/8, the handle is narrowed in width down to about 1.5, and ten inches between the flares (I know, how did I expect a stiff handle with it that thin and long?). It then flares out to full width for 10 inches, followed by a taper of I believe 1/8th per 5 inches, ending in 1/2 inch tips. The thickness is from 5/8ths at the flare to 3/8 at the tips. The sharp edges have been sanded with 80 grit to keep a splinter from lifting.  I haven't touched the back wood at all (besides sanding the corners). Thus far the most modern tool I have used is a Razor knife, other than that I have only used 2 different sized planes, a hunting knife, a sureform rasp (total waste of money  ) a small hand saw (like a hack saw but with a fine wood blade) a few different sized files, including a rat tail file to cut my string nocks,  a pencil, a tape measure a speed square (its fiber glass so I guess its Modern too!)and an 8 inch C clamp. I actually shaped the bow without using a clamp, I would hold one end, and plane with the other (I then realized I could clamp a limb down to the chair and plane it, but that was after it was shaped!).

Shaping the wood was a tough sell with only basic hand tools (I can't call it a bow until it shoots an arrow). But it has been very therapeutic thus far, Time flies when you are deep inside a project, I have really no idea how long I have spent on it, probably close to 30 hours. I have learned a lot about my tools (one hunting knife will only shave wood one direction, whoever put the edge on it didn't do a very good job  ), and that my hands aren't as tough as I once thought them to be. I do manual labor for a living, so I thought they were tough from running a shovel, boy was I mistaken!

Where can I find a proper scale? Thanks again to everyone who has planted a seed, and fertilized it with little bits of experience from their own builds.

[lebhuntfish]

I'm no expert, but from what you said sounds like you doing ok. The 1.5"x7/8"handle shouldn't be bending. From the looks of the pictures, it looks like to me that most of your bending is coming from the handle area and you are fairly stiff on the inner third of the limbs near the fades. You also have a hinge starting about 12" from the end on the left limb.  Don't pull it any farther or you will get set.  Put it back on the long string, you should be able to see what I'm talking about like that.  Once you see a problem don't pull it any farther. Fix the problem them make sure you exercise the stave after every scraping session. Go slow and get yourself a 6" long block of wood that's really flat. Run it down the limbs while you have it on the tiller and you can watch the gaps between the block and the limb. The wider the gaps the more it is bending in that spot.

Use quotations and look up a build along called a "tillering gizmo" make yourself one and use it they work! But like I said I'm no expert and still a little green myself but that's what I would try to do if it was me. Good luck and go slow. Patrick

By the way look on amazon for your scale. That's where I'm going to order mine. Digital is not very good for tillering.