sometimes they just don't want to lay flat

[missilemaster]

Looks great Greg, you sure know how to tiller them  !

[burchett.donald]

Greg, you knocked that tiller shape out of the park man...Very small amount of set and I'm sure it wasn't anything to do with your skills, I've seen to many excellent bows from you...
                                                                                                                     Don
                                                                                                                           

[PEARL DRUMS]

I remember that one Greg. Nice tiller, as usual.

Yes, the tips moved back 3" from the original starting point. We can pretend it doesn't matter, that's just not true. You know that as well as anybody. Its not about how much reflex you hold, its about how much you lost. That's why string follow isn't a bad thing. If your losing 3-4" on each bow then something needs to be wider or longer.

[Eric Krewson]

I used to carve duck decoys out of Tupelo. The butt cut was as soft as balsa wood but the log cut was like iron. I always thought lumber from the log would make great hardwood arrow shafting, straight, hard and dense. Never doweled any up as it had much more value as carving wood.

Good to see you can make a bow from the stuff.

[George Tsoukalas]

Yes,set is damage to wood cells and it cuts down on cast, Ross.

I believe you will get that damage even if their is no visible follow and you have started with a reflex.

Comstock talks about the benefits of over building in his book, The Bent Stick.

There is little to be gained by pushing limits and a lot to be gained by striking a happy medium.

But you use what you have.

Jawge

[Badger]

  Greg, I don't think a little extra mass in the inner limbs will hurt anything at all. A little extra mass to get a target draw weight really does indicate high moisture most of the time because moist wood is weaker, it can also indicate a lot of crushed wood which I doubt in your case.

[SLIMBOB]

First, really sweet tiller on this one. Very nice. Second, I have no answer to the question. Some just seemingly refuse to take the set that others do and visa versa. Not fully dry, not seasoned, design issues, problems with the tiller, problems with the construction. I think all of these things can have an impact for sure. But sometimes one comes along for me that just outperforms the average. Sometimes the reverse. Not sure why at all???

[okie64]

That is a great tiller Greg! Is tupelo the same as blackgum? Ive heard some people call blackgum trees black tupelo around here.

[Badly Bent]

OK, I miss quoted the mass weight numbers in my post this morning, I actually have been keeping notes on this one and two other builds as well and quoted the numbers from one of the others. Soooo, as it stands now the mass weight is at 14.55 oz, down from 14.85 when I put it in the box 3 1/2 days ago. Seems to have stopped losing weight, I'll see what happens in the next couple days. Lesson learned, make sure the wood is done drying and don't leave it out for a couple days of tillering and exercising when humidity is hovering around 75 to 99%.   Also think I likely caused some damage during the tillering trying to balance tiller on two limbs with near exactly different side profiles, (one with reflex and the other with deflex in the same area).  Just the same though I do like the bow and I am anxious to get
the finishing done when time allows. Thanks for the input guys, appreciate all the comments.

[Badly Bent]

Sorry Okie almost forgot to answer your question. I think Gun Doc also referred to this wood as black gum as well as tupelo. If I remember correctly he said he had cut it just north of Atlanta. He also gave me a yew stave from Oregon and a choke cherry stave from Montana. The man is a road warrior, coast to coast, border to border, catch him if ya can.

[Aaron H]

Shouldn't your tiller match that of when your bow is unstrung?  If one limb has a natural reflex, and the other has a natural deflex, shouldn't your tiller mimic this in order to get both limbs bending the exact same amount?  If you tiller them to both bend to the same imaginary vertical line, the limb with the natural reflex would be bending more than the limb with the natural deflex. Therefore making one limb travel at a different speed than the weaker one, creating hand shock, correct? Please correct me if I am wrong. 

Badly Bent-don't get me wrong, it is a beautiful bow, and the one in the background with the scallops is sweet! I am just trying to get a better understanding of how I should tiller my uneven bows.

[Badly Bent]

I don't honestly know the answer to that Aaron, is does have some kick in the bow hand so you are quite possibly correct. If you look at the braced profile closely you'll see how it still shows the bottom limb which has the reflex in
the outer portion looking stiffer at brace.  Even/equally bending limbs at full draw then may not be right, anybody have any thoughts on this?
Thanks for posing this question Aaron, there is quite a bit about tillering and bend distribution that I'm still not sure
I understand myself.

[Badger]

  I don't have any exact thoughts on it as I try to work with ballanced limbs from the start but bow limbs have one thing in common with all springs. Springs are rated in how fast they build tension when compressed, or stretched. Bow limbs are the same. You could only test them by pusing on them individualy with a scale. I think they should be somewhere around a pound per inch. If a bow is reflexed in one limb and deflexed in the other limb the deflexed limb would likley be a stronger spring if it were to be ballanced at brace height because it had less bending to do to get to brace. As you pulled it back the deflexed limb would build weight faster than the reflexed limb.
    This would cause the nock of the arrow to go up or down toward the stronger limb as you drew the bow most likely causing porpoising in the arrow. I don't know about shock. I find any bow tillered evenly as you might do with a gizmo produces some kick. 

[4dog]

there is a difference between thump or bump...and handshock...one is a pleasant little arrival...the other...can jolt the bow outta your hand...most of all my bows have had the former...one was dangerously close to the latter...but was still shootable.

[simson]

excellent work Greg,
interesting seeing the profiles unsymmetrical in braced to balanced in the fd. a beauty of a bow.
IMO string follow/set is to be measured after the last heat treating by laying the bow on a even surface and measure to the deepest point of the grip (when reflexed). measure again when the bow is tillered and shot in. The difference is the amount of set.