Updated Tillering Gizmo instructions with pictures.

[Badger]

Here’s another tip for “fine tuning” that I use to compensate for my inability to recognize perfect limb symmetry (I really envy those guys with daVinci vision). In the last few inches of tillering, I switch to a Gizmo that’s only 2” long. It will indicate minute thickness differences along the limbs, and ensure a smoother curve. Eric mentioned in a post on a previous thread, and Steve reiterated, set the pencil depth on the “weaker” limb, and use that setting for both limbs to help balance the bends and working loads.

  I do something similar, I use a 3", my regular is only 4".

[willie]

Eric,

I see that the 14", 16" and 18" peg holes on the tiller tree get used a lot. Do you do much pegging and marking at full draw?

[Mescalero]

  I will very often sit down in a chair with a braced bow in my lap and start marking it with the gizmo, I scrape off the pencil marks plus a few strokes, draw the bow several times and then do it again. Every few minutes I will get up and put it back on the tree to check weight and see how it is doing.

Sounds like tillering was fun?!

[Eric Krewson]

WOW! I haven't looked at this is a while and never answered Willie's question.  I stop pegging the string in place at 20", If you can set the gizmo a fraction off the limbs at this point and not make a mark you are close to done with the tillering at full draw except for fine tuning changes. These may be getting the fades to work more, dropping poundage which will require repeated checks with the gizmo and some touch up work out to 20". You probably will want the top limb to have positive tiller if you shoot split finger, as you drop the poundage on the lower limb slightly to achieve this more gizmo checks will be in order up to 20".

All the bows that I have made change some during shoot-in, if they do it is time for more gizmo checks. If your bow gets shocky during shoot-in you can usually find the problem with a gizmo check, look for a stiff spot or a limb that got weak and out of time.