I love chasing a ring on Bodark...and a few others, but I like equally well, this phase of bow making. the tillering phase. Now first of all, I mentioned earlier that I was ahead of what your seeing. Once I floor tillered, I put this bow up for a few years. I want it to season, and harden up. So in the fall of 2021 it went into the closet. I brought it out earlier this month and took the tips down and added overlays. Put the backset and recurves in, long string tillered Just a bit, and then got a string on it. Floor tiller is important as It lets me know when it is ready to bend evenly for the long string The long string is important because it shows me that both limbs are bending together well. Once they are, I go straight to low brace. The tuning I did floor tillering and long string tillering, is just to get me to this point. When I put a short string on it, the tiller is typically really even, limb to limb. Its still heavy, but I am not stressing it beyond low brace. 4 maybe 5 inches (less if I am concerned at all). I make my adjustments with the string on when I can, and I get the brace shape like I want it. I have talked about this method before. Take a straight edge, and run it along the belly. The gap between the straight edge and the belly is your guide. Areas where the gap is wider, its bending more there. Don't scrape here. Areas where the gap in less, its bending less...take wood off here. When the gap is more or less the same across the working limb, it is bending evenly. You can see in the pics where I marked the belly. The X, is don't scrape. The other is scrape until the pencil marks are gone. Then, exercise and check it again. Rinse and repeat. Keep both limbs balanced and get them bending like you want them before you go much farther. You will not have any hinges to contend with. None!
We will get it drawn some in the next go-round.
