Difficulty controlling.

[ratt]

I'm new to bow making, only four so far, which shoot quite well, but all have the same upper and lower limb defect, in that being flat bows, I have found it nearly impossible to keep both limb bellies on the same plane, so to speak. I am using young sapling staves cut from forest, dried for a good while. I only have the basic tools, no band saw etc. Do other people have a tip on how to control this issue, I try to make each one with a slightly different approach,but till now, i've never been satisfied with this one issue, among others for a later date.

[Deerhunter21]

pics? i dont think i understand your question real well.

[Kidder]

I’m in the same boat as you so don’t speak with any significant experience. That said I’ve been using a pocket level on the belly to ensure I’m keeping limb edge thickness consistent across the belly. Maybe this could help???

[DC]

Are you working at a bench vice? I find that I tend to scrape more on the near side, if that makes sense, so I tend to get a little propeller twist built in. Once I was conscious of what I was doing it helped a lot.

[Del the cat]

Just keep checking by laying an arrow shaft across each limb. A bit of twist isn't the end of the world... my fave' bow is called "Twister"
Work the belly dead flat initially, round the edges later and than can correct any minor discrepancy.
As the others have said it can be due to working with a "handed" bias, so get used to checking regularly and /or reversing the bow so you work from both diractions
Del

[bownarra]

It doesn't matter
One way to get an even taper on both limb edges is to get your stave worked to its width profile and then square up and smooth out the edges. Then take a rule and mark out some dots 1/8th or so apart on the limbs edges. Do this every 6 inches or so along both sides of both limbs. Then take a fine pen and using your finger as a guide along the back join the dots. This will give you a set of parallel lines, 1/8th inch apart along the limbs edges.
Now as you tiller the bow reducing thickness all it takes is a glance at both limb edges to get a solid visual reference that both sides are equal.

[Pat B]

How does it look braced? that's what matters and later at full draw.
 Have you checked the thickness of each limb from side to side like DC suggested? His example about the bench vice is a very common problem with newer bowyers and I can say this from experience. 

[DC]

It doesn't matter

Has anyone noticed any effect one way or the other? I think that the bow will try to bend at 90° to the belly(flat belly for this conversation). Using Del's picture that would mean that one tip would go left and the other would go right, right? Or does the pull of the string sort that out?

[George Tsoukalas]

Look at the limb and run your fingers and thumb down it to check the evens of wood removal. Jawge

[gifford]

About the only thing I'd add to bownara's post is this; I take a chalk or string line or straight edge and mark the centerline of the bow's limb. when rasping or scraping or using a draw knife, and leave the line as the center of your limb; it will likely be the high point of limb and your wood removal will slope to the line you drew on side of the bow's limb.

That can give you a bit leeway in evening up the limb if you need to. It's akin to the trapezodial limb layout that the late Dean Torges described in his classic 'Hunting the Osage Bow'. ymmv.

[MM2]

Hi everyone!

I’m a rookie too  , but I have an idea.

My method is: Start to taper the sapling. Then scrape a small, level surface on the grip, preferably at the center – this will be the ground zero. Start to taper the limbs. Time and again put a small bubble level on the ground zero, and adjust the bow until the ground zero is absolutely level. Then slowly run over the bubble level on the limb, and mark the biassed sections with a pencil, then scrape them. When you have to taper the grip, make a new ground zero again.
With this method both limbs and the grip will be on the same plane.

(Because of my poor english, I send some picture.)

Bye!

Michael

[Pat B]

Everything doesn't have to be level with wood bows. Undulations are OK as long as the back and belly run basically parallel with a slight taper to the tips. Quit worrying about roller coaster and get each limb evenly tapering to the tip as you get both limbs bending evenly and together.

[Eric Krewson]

I do the same as Bownarra, but drop my side thickness 1/16" every 6 inches until I get to 1/4" and keep this measurement to the tips. I start out with a round belly bow that flattens considerably as I tiller the bow. The tips stay round belly, I make them thicker but narrow.

[Eric Krewson]

Another thing that will help you keep your wood removal consistent as you work the limbs is a contour gauge. These are pretty cheap and will tell you if you have removed wood evenly sided to side.

[George Tsoukalas]

I was once gifted a beautiful yew stave by Jim Fetrow of eternal memory. I felt the pressure of getting a nice bow from it which I did.

I took pains to make sure wood removal was even on each side of the limb by using an outside caliper.  I strung it for the first time and I still had  a leaner as y'all are  describing.
I still had to remove wood from the strongiest side and everything turned out well and I made a nice pw with horn nocks.

We are not building houses here where everything has to be plumb and level. Indeed, remember that wood is not uniform and varies even within a limb.

Well, anyway, nobody cares.

Jawge