I have some thoughts about tiller on HLD bows:
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,71410.0.htmlI don´t want to mix up this thread so I made a extra thread for presentation.
I had some problems in the build which could be solved at least:
1. I wanted a 50#@28 - 66“ maybe a bit longer would’ve been better. I dropped it to 42#@27“ - 66“
2. Braced it to early, the sidewall were too uneven and I got 3 frets in the inner limb close to fade. Did some surgery alla Eric Krewson and implanted a fresh piece of wood with epoxy. Worked out great, thanx man! Hard to see with the paint job so I marked a blue line close to the glueline. This limb was supposed to be the upper, but became the lower, this laminates stiffens it out a bit.
3. A fret towards a little pin hole was taken care off with epoxy and a wrapping of flax. Elderberry Saplings grow somehow like bamboo with clean intersections between branches. I painted the same pattern in orange on the other knots. The Pattern between I painted with tung oil .
When drying I cut off almost half of the sapling and made a cut in the grip to prevent drying checks. The cutting slot I filled with a piece of Black Locust to stiff out the grip.
Fingernail shaped overlays made off buff horn for the nocks. A cotton wool cord wrapping for the handle.
To get this artifact look I first painted the Pattern in orange with pigments and wood glue on the Knots. The pattern in yellow is painted with tung oil. Than I sprayed a desolving of steel wool in vinegar, on it. More layers toward the tips and handle. Some black leather dye for touch ups.
Was a quick and dirty paintjob but it looks quite authentic.
Max. width is 1 7/16“ which is the original width of the stave in the handle area.
Unbracing after shooting it have 18mm of string follow which returns to 4mm when resting.
The original profile was perfectly straight, so I’m very happy, I can still look through that hole in the handle which is the orig. pith of the sap.
Thanx for watching!
