Your biggest AH HA! moment...

[The Burnt Hill Archer]

Ive been thinking about this lately and i thought id see what you all had to say. You hear a lot from people saying that this site has helped them out so much (and believe me it has!). i was just wondering what the one or two things were that helped you out the most.

    I'd have to say that my biggest ah ha moment is pretty much all of Gordon's tutorial, but seeing the heat treating and the way he does his tip overlays has been the biggest help to me.

Another one that i just thought of was a suggestion from Manny about localized heat treating to fix tiller problems.

Its also great to see a post like "Tiller help please" i always jump right on them cause it helps me see pretty much the same problems that I'm having, and how to handle them.

So how about it, new guys, old guys (and gals of course), what and who has helped you out the most in building your bows?

Phil (uh oh there he goes thinking again)

[son of massey]

 not many people will remember any of these people of posts (this was before the website was restricted only to subscribers, which was before it was opened back up again), but as far as bow physics and that sort of thing, there used to be another pat in britain who had great discussions at length where he would talk, for instance, about arrow weight and how it affects all these other variables.   ehkahk's posts were his own learning curve and how he figured out through practical experience-and through guidance from riverrat- how to solve all of his own issues with atlatls and knapping especially.  those arent really moments but were people who shaped a lot of the way that i think about the problems and issues we deal with working with primitive tech.  all of my real ah ha moments have all physically experienced-i get something to work in my hands and they learn how to do it again, or better, or whatever. SOM

[The Burnt Hill Archer]

thats exactally the kinda thing im lookin for. people and posts that have made an impression/improvement on your skills.

anybody else???

[cracker]

The greatest help to me has been the constant flow of constructive criticism and encouragement from Pappy,Cowboy and all the other folks who are too numerous to mention. To all of you who offered advice and support I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Ronnie

[Pat B]

My ah ha moment wasn't a moment at all but a shift in thinking when I logged in to PA for the first time and ever since. I actually had folks to discuss problems with, actually see what someone was talking about and having lots of bows to compare with. Before then, all I had was books. I read and reread those books by Massey, Comstock, Hamm, Vonderhey, Torges, Dr. Vaughn Ditto, Hardy, St Charles, and Hunt and Metz and any other book I could read on the subject.
   It was more than 10 years of bow "building" before I found out about PA and shortly after logging on a light bulb came on and things started to happen with my bows that was supposed to happen. To quote a friend...they became "Hunt Worthy"! I trusted my bows enough to hunt with.        Pat

[JackCrafty]

Let's see....my AH HA! Moments:

Ah HA!  So that's how you tiller a bow! (after reading an article in PA mag....I can't remember the issue.)
Ah HAH!! So that's what real NA archery equip looks like! (after reading Jim Hamm's/Steve Alley's books on Bows, Arrows, and Quivers)
Ah HAH!!!! So you can make a good bow from ANY wood?  Awesome!

[waterlogged]

I can't remember much of it, but I remember a while back someone saying on this forum, when questioned as to why it took them so long, said "I make bows for fun, so why rush it?" Up until that time I made bows in fits and spirts, doing as much as a could as quick as I could until I burnt out. Then the cycle would repeat in about six months. Now I am much more relaxed, and it's enjoyable for me all year round. Wish I could remember who posted that.

[Gordon]

Watching John Strunk continually run his fingers up and down the length of the limbs as he tillers and then realizing that what you feel is as important as what you see.

[Pappy]

There have been many ,but I guess the most was figuring out when Tillering not to get
them bending to much right out of the fads and the last 6 or 8 inches from the tip to start
with,save it for last,That alone almost eliminated string follow or at least cut it way down.Also
making sure the wood is dry all the way through the process.
    Pappy

[Skeaterbait]

That's funny Pappy, mine was just the opposite, I used to get the outer limbs bending just right then by the time I got the fades doing right, I lost all my weight. Now I start at the fades and work out.

[Pappy]

I start on the fads when I am about half way to where I want to be on draw length and
usuall leave the tips pretty stiff. The thing I found was if it take a little set at the fads it
shows a lot at the tips.
   Pappy

[The Burnt Hill Archer]

see this is what i was hopeing would happen, a good list of "hints and tricks".

Gordon, i remember somebody saying that you feel a tiller allong as much as you see it, that helped me alot too.

Pappy i see what your saying about leaving the tips and fades alone till almost the end. thats kinda what ive been doing on my last two bows im working on, and i am deffinately seeing the tiller comming allong easier.



great! lets keep it going...

[Pat B]

I guess when I started using only a scraper after floor tillering was my ah ha moment. It made me slow down enough to get 'er  done!
   I usually leave the handle area and tips alone until the bow is tillered. Lots of corrections can be made in both places and having them finished isn't necessary to achieve tiller.
   I go by feel also. Your fingers can "see" problem areas way before your eyes can.      Pat

[Badger]

    I had to chuckle when I saw this thread. Tim baker and I will call each other in the middle of the night loudly and proudly proclaiming another "ah ha" moment. I wouldn't know where to start when looking for the biggest ah ha moment. A lot of you know I am a performance chaser, everytime I would hit a new plateau I would feel that feeling. Sometimes I wouldn't understand what it was I did different that gave me the extra boost I got on a bow and I might have to build 10 more to figure it out. When Tim showed me how to use a spokeshave it was one of those moments. I think that grasping the concept of recovering energy from the limbs that would otherwise be lost to vibration was a major moment. Fine tuning a method of 0 set tillering was another major moment. Incorporating Marks heat treating methods into my bows had to be another biggy. I think the ah ha moments are what kept me going for so long, when they started to slow down I found myself struggling a bit more to stay motivated. Took somewhat of a break this year and now am looking harder at the artistic, style and finishing aspects of bows. I hope to gear back up soon and go back at it with a slightly different approach. Steve

[salad days]

I have learned basically everything on this site. My only other rescourse so far is TBB1. The best advise of all that I can think of was " when tillering, if you start to feel like it is taking too long, put your tools away and go do something else before you ruin 20 hours of hard work." I have no idea who said that but it is pure wisdom. Another really great tip I learned on here is to take about a 4 inch piece of wood square the ends and drill a hole for a pencil right in the middle. When tillering you can run this along the belly and it draws a mark on the smallest of flat spots so you can see where exactly to scrape. Store hickory in a very dry place between work sessions. Heat treat hickory on the belly to improve compression strength. etc. etc. Just too much to list.