Tillering mistake pulled it further then expected

[Nasr]

I am building a white oak flat bow and it’s been a while since I made a bow and as I was marking the draw length on my tillering tree I messed up. Now I have a white oak bow 64” ntn pulling 48 at 30”. I didn’t even realize what I had done until after I left the shop. During the whole tillering process I was telling myself that 28 seems to be longer then I remember lol. Oh well at least now I know how to make a bow pull more then is possible.just fudge the numbers on the tillering tree.

[Pat B]

Concentration and patience are your two best bow building tools.
 If you haven't caused too much belly damage(set) you might be able to get the weight up a bit with belly tempering with reflex added and flipping the tips. White oak lends itself well to belly tempering. You might be able to get another 5# or 6#, maybe more.

[sleek]

A perfect candidate for piking. The stress load on the bow will not change one bit as you cut an inch off each tip at a time until the draw weight is what you want it to be at 28. This is how I would do it without a question. Unless it has taken much over an inch of set. Then I would heat treat as mentioned, then pike until the draw weight at 28 is what you are looking for.

[Nasr]

i was thinking about heat treating and re flexing the tips but piking seems easier. Its taken about an inch and a half of set.

[SLIMBOB]

Pat nailed it.  Concentration and Fresh Perspective are your best bow building friends. If they have left the shop, I follow them out the door.  If I push thru without them, Jacked Up almost always shows up.

[sleek]

i was thinking about heat treating and re flexing the tips but piking seems easier. Its taken about an inch and a half of set.

Heat treat it first, then see what you got. Afterwards, start piking until you see the set start to increase, and stop there. It's better to have a good shooting low weight bow than a dogfish high weight, unless you need the weight for legal hunting regulations. With a  it of good judgment and a pinch of luck, you will hit 40#@28 with an inch of set.

[bradsmith2010]

Great advice from above,..

[Nasr]

i was thinking about heat treating and re flexing the tips but piking seems easier. Its taken about an inch and a half of set.

Heat treat it first, then see what you got. Afterwards, start piking until you see the set start to increase, and stop there. It's better to have a good shooting low weight bow than a dogfish high weight, unless you need the weight for legal hunting regulations. With a  it of good judgment and a pinch of luck, you will hit 40#@28 with an inch of set.

sounds good I will do that. I am ok with 40 pounds i would like 50 plus but that's not gonna happen with this one. I have never been hunting I would love to though its my dream to do that one day I just have 0 knowledge on hunting.

[bownarra]

Piking will increase string angle which leads to lower energy storage. Chasing your tail a bit. Weight won't increase much without excessive length reduction on what is already fairly short.
Heat treat the belly to a good deep brown. Slowly. Recurving will shorten working limb length increasing weight a little and has the benefit of lowering string angle. Making the bow stack less. However I would keep the recurves as short and sharp as possible. Cutting a kerf in the tip along the neutral plane will allow you to bend a sharp recurve. You fill the kerf with a thin strip of wood (don't glue yet!) and then do the steaming. Once dry slip out the thin piece and then glue it in place.
A word of warning though these operations can work if carried out 'just so' but you may well end up chasing your tail trying to make the bow something it wasn't. It's fun trying though

[Jim Davis]

Just draw and shoot at 28 inches. You'll  have 44# or so in a bow that  will never break.

[bradsmith2010]

  DC just had a nice thread,, where recurving did increase performance on a straight tip bow,,Piking can be very effective,, depending on the bow,,if the bow is a little heavy in mass,,,piking can increase weight and cast ,, sometimes not as stated,, its a judgment call,, your experience level will dictate,, keep notes and if it does not work,, try not to make the same mistake again,, shooting through a chrono before and after, will reveal if you chased your tail,,,
   I like the idea of shooting it as is,,,,it will kill a deer,,,

[sleek]

Just draw and shoot at 28 inches. You'll  have 44# or so in a bow that  will never break.

Nothin wrong with thos advice either. The advice I gave was just for you to do and learn what CAN be done, not what NEEDS to be done. chose what you will, but whatever you do decide,  MAKE ANOTHER ONE!

[kbear]

Just draw and shoot at 28 inches. You'll  have 44# or so in a bow that  will never break.

Ahhhhh......... The KISS principle........ Keep It Simple Soyoudon'truinitandhavetothrowitinthebin.

I like your thinking Jim.

[sleek]

Piking will increase string angle which leads to lower energy storage. Chasing your tail a bit. Weight won't increase much without excessive length reduction on what is already fairly short.

I'd have a hard time calling 64 inches fairly short. Maybe if it's for a 32 inch draw length, but not for a 28. I'd wager he can cut off an inch of each limb, and get settled right in at 62 inches pulling about 45@28 and have no more set than he already does, less if he gets lucky with a good heat treat. Energy storage differences isn't something he is going to notice in any negative way, considering he will actually pick up speed with the higher draw weight at 28, and lower tip mass having lost mass during piking.

[Deerhunter21]

Got a great laugh from kbears commemt! still laughing.