First bow and an elm

[bubbles]

This may be a little late, but you could splice in levers on both tips to get the extra length and possibly get a 29" draw.

[WillS]

It's bending way too much at the fades, so if you want to lose some more weight take it from the outer limbs.  Might get the tiller saved, and get to a better weight at the same time.

[vtbow]

Thanks son of massey. She has a fiberglss bow given to her on her birthday that she has been shooting for a couple weeks. When I asked her to pull the new wood bow and compare she said there was more "strain" then th other. So today I put her glass bow (rated at "15 pounds) on the tiller and it pulled 22 pounds at 21" vs the wood bow @ 18# at 21". So I didn't know what to make of that.

 I'm thinking now that the difference may be the string and not the actual pull. The kids bow she got as a present came with pre installed rubber knocking points that fit all 3 fingers with a space between for the arrow -- I don't know what that's called, if it has a name. So I think it was easier on her fingers -- maybe that's what she meant by "strain".....

But anyway, I decided to reduce the pull weight on the wood bow further since 15 pounds seems to be a standard for young kid's bows, and I want her to enjoy shooting it, and work on form, as you say.

Bubbles, thanks for the suggestion, and I'll keep that in mind for the future. Course, I hope to keep in mind that I need a longer bow to begin with! Well -- thought I had that, but the grain flaw showed up when the board was planed and it had to be cut down. I'm thinking 72" next time.

WillS, greatly appreciate your comment and observation -- so I'm working the tips down now. It's going slow -- I lost only a half pound draw after about 2 hours of work, but I don't want to mess this bow up at this stage. I scrape, excercise it 30 times and check the weight and shape, and repeat. I think the shape may be better, but I don't have a photo today to check it against that last one.

Thanks again for all you guy's comments!

[vtbow]

I got the bow down to 16 lbs. today and I think that's as far as I want to go with it. It's 1/8" thick at the nocks. Feels sturdy though and very springy with reserve past 21" ( I did check to 22" with no problem). There;s no sudden jump in stress as you're pulling back, like there is with her fiberglass bow. That bow is much heavier, weight wise, too. Plus the fistmele on that plastic bow must have fit a giant's hand.

In a new try today, my daughter said the new bow was definitely easier to draw, but the string hurt -- that is what she meant before. Her glass bow has wide rubber knock points that cushion fingers. The new bow, just bare string.

I shot 30 arrows with the new bow, and was surprised at the accuracy and penetration for the tiny 16 lbs. draw. Buried the fletching through a corrugated cardboard faced hay bale on a few shots.

It's not finished yet, but I'm really glad my first bow can actually shoot an arrow! In fact I was getting a feeling I liked this kid's bow better shooting than my old 40# bearcat recurve. 

I'm lookig forward to finishing it and giving her a bow I made.

52-1/2" ntn, 21", 16#,  Black birch

[vtbow]

I did an elm handle wrap per bushboy's thread and really enjoyed doing it that way.

[vtbow]

[bubby]

If you get the outer limbs working more on both limbs the weight will probably be just about right by the time the tiller is straightened out, you can see where most of the bend is inner third, take ten good scrapes on each side and see what it looks like when it looks good to you have her shoot it and see if she can do so easily, heavy bows make for bad habits

[vtbow]

Bubby are you looking at the first tiller photo?

The later tillering photo above is where it's at now, and that's only 16 lbs, draw and she can easily pull it back.

Her plastic bow that she was using before was 22 lbs. draw when I measured it.

[nakedfeet]

I think you went a bit too far in getting the outer limbs bending, but no bother! It's a nice looking bow and I'm sure your daughter will love it! You can tell you have some craftsman in you, so I'm sure it won't take long before you make something (for yourself) that you really like!