shop set up

[Spotted Dog]

ok, I hate to admit this but the bows I make are all buy and eye. I do not have a shop. I have been doing mostly primitive tools.
How would one go about setting up a tillering area?  I have some books and mostly make Native American bows. Not ones that
are the beautiful contemporary bows I see. Can someone give me some tips ?  I also make my arrows from hand cut dogwood
or cane. Some are all done with stone tools.


Thank you for any help.

[Oglala Bowyer]

I'm not sure your methods in bow making is all that wrong.  Nor do I think your NA bows are less beautiful than "contemporary" bows.  At any rate, I build all my bows in my basement, yeah you heard me.  I have a crude tillering board that I clamp into my jaw horse and when I'm done fold it up.

[Spotted Dog]

 I have used a mirror to see my tiller. Some of my bows are of a strange tiller. I take all I can off , but by feel
it feels right.  My wife thinks me odd since I do so much by hand and not with electric  tools.   My garage is where I work when it's cold
or in my back yard. Summer time garage is toooo hot. I like cold.  I'd love to have a leanto to work in.  I have a crude tiller stick that
I just made. Bathroom scales to weight draw.

[Dances with squirrels]

Tillering trees are nice because you can stand back and quickly assess the tiller, and if you set them up to replicate your shooting nuances, you can precisely balance the limbs relative to your holds.

You can make a tillering tree (rope and pulley system) on a 2x4 and then ratchet strap it to a pole or tree or put it in a bench vice, or trailer hitch, etc. It doesn't have to be mounted on a wall.