Piller Tiller ?

[Stick Bender]

I was reading threw some old threads & found one that included piller tillering to brace height , it was basically the bow tips resting on pillers with the center pulled & tillered to brace height , found it interesting & never herd of it before ,wonder if any body uses this method Pros/Cons etc. ?

[Pat B]

Never heard of it.

[Stick Bender]

I found it in this old thread http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,29461.0.html thought it might be usefull for sinew bow getting to brace ?

[High-Desert]

This looks like something Gordon did in his Vine Maple Bow build. I think he did it because the stave was so reflexed. I've done it with reflexed staves because they will not stay on the tiller tree without a clamp, but that's my only experience.

Eric

[osage outlaw]

I bought a clamp and tried it once years ago.  I had problems with one limb sliding on the pillar and the other wouldn't.  It would mess up the brace tiller. 

[willie]

Pros- more stable than than tiller tree or a option if you do not have one, or space for one. easier to measure to the bench than set up a grid to eyeball from, and you can hang a known weight from the center while you make measurements.

Cons- ??, just remember that the physics are the same as longstring or floor tillering, in that the bend is not quite the same as it would be if truly braced. However, I use a modified rest/fixture on my tillertree that gives an accurate bend, and that fixture might work even better with this pillar setup. Thanks for reviving.

[Badger]

  I have a special set up for this where the pillars are adjustable wide rollers. I only use it for bows 100# plus and sometimes heavily reflexed recurves

[PatM]

I mentioned this on the sinew backed Osage thread the other day. It's a very good method for reflexed and recurved bows.. Very easy to string a bow like this as well.
 
  You just have to make sure the tips can move. Make the rests slick and smooth or maybe stick some pieces of carpet on them,

[dragonman]

If you mean putting a piece of wood (pillar)  between the string and the handle and  then increasing the size of the pillar as you stress the bow more and more..then yes...this is how I tiller all my bows....I dont like tiller trees and gave them up years ago....I find this method better...you can scape the bow with the pillar in place and the bow under tension...and the bow reacts to wood removal immediately...then you replace the pillar with a slightly longer one....and so on....I find I only need 3 or 4 "pillars" and a ruler to measure the distance between limb and string......and a long adjustable string....works great for me...

[Springbuck]

  I am just not good at floor tillering, for some reason, so until I get a bow on the tree, I use all kinds of other things that basically equate to floor tillering.  I bend them over my knee by grabbing the limbs 2/3 of the way out.  I put a bow-stringer or long string on the tips and step on it, then grab the handle with two hands and pull to see it flex.  I put on the long string and lift weights with a hook on the string to check draw weight, and all kinds of stuff.  Don't see why this wouldn't work.

[DC]

I have a long string with cups on the end like a bow stringer. I "floor tiller" until it starts to move a bit then it's on to the tree. The cups mean I don't have to cut temp nocks and the bow is up in front of me where I can see it. It also means I can have my scale in the works so I don't over bend it. When it starts to bend nicely at about 40# then I call it floor tillered and carry on. I have used the cup string until full brace height but most of the time I change out earlier.