Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: elk country rp on January 26, 2010, 03:30:33 am

Title: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: elk country rp on January 26, 2010, 03:30:33 am
i've got this one pretty close, but i feel like i'm missing something (besides a handle- i glued up some leather strips for that). it's 70"ntn, 1 1/4"~1/2" wide, 3/4"~7/16" thick.

today i weighed it at 21oz (mass principle suggests i can lose an ounce or two). i've exercised the limbs quite a bit out to the 26"-28" range & taken it to 30" a few times (70# @ 30" is the goal). it's given up 1 1/4" of it's initial 2 1/2" of reflex. my scale isn't exactly precise, but it looks pretty close to target draw weight- maybe a couple pounds light.

i'm kinda splitting hairs here, but if you see anything i can improve on, please let me know. otherwise, i'm prettying up the tips & hitting it with tru oil tomorrow night

thanks,
Rob 
ps- it's tillered 1/8" positive- top limb is the left one

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Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical
Post by: Pappy on January 26, 2010, 06:18:59 am
Looks good to me,what kind of wood is it ?
   Pappy
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical
Post by: half eye on January 26, 2010, 08:48:25 am
     Can't speak for anyone else.....looks real good to me, so much so that I'd probably be shootin the dog ---- out of it.....real nice job.
half eye ;)
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical
Post by: Grunt on January 26, 2010, 09:00:59 am
Shoot that beast in. Nice.
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical
Post by: Tom Leemans on January 26, 2010, 10:01:25 am
Short of having any reference grid or tillering gizmo, I'd say it's ready.
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical
Post by: Justin Snyder on January 26, 2010, 10:57:24 am
I think the left limb is bending a little more from midlimb out.  Like Tom said, some sort of grid would make it easier to tell.
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical
Post by: Josh on January 26, 2010, 11:15:41 am
Looks great to me!   :)  -josh
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical
Post by: aznboi3644 on January 26, 2010, 01:41:24 pm
I love the full compass tiller with the stiff tips...elegant.

I'm curious to the type of cellulose and lignin
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical
Post by: Del the cat on January 26, 2010, 02:34:11 pm
It's upside down... ::)
Well you asked us to be critical.
Looks good to me, I agre with Justin, a tad more flex in the tight tip would even it up a whisker, but it's closer than most.
I like a nice full circle type tiller myself, and working tips are a good thing in my book.
Del
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical
Post by: Frode on January 26, 2010, 02:40:44 pm
Sure looks nice to me!
Frode
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical
Post by: George Tsoukalas on January 26, 2010, 03:47:37 pm
Picture perfect! Jawge
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical
Post by: Rich Saffold on January 26, 2010, 05:51:44 pm
Rob. As much as it looks good from this angle, how it shoots and feels in your hand is the most important one to me...Some like to exercise their bows on the pully devise. I exercise mine by shooting them ;), and make subtle adjustments if needed.

Your mass is close enough at this point besides you will  sand off some as well, and I think some bows tend to dry out more as they are worked on..especially when the wood is very dense to start with...

Your bow looks good judging from the photo

It's Ipe and Hickory Pappy and Anzboi

Rich
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical
Post by: elk country rp on January 26, 2010, 05:57:24 pm
my wife will only tolerate so much indoor shooting, so i went outside with a neighbor to get some full draws. i'm using a 33 1/2" arrow- looks like i'm only pulling to 29" on most of the pics. could be a timing thing, or me just being wimpy. now for the apology: i've noticed a certain dress code in alot of pics here lately. i don't have any sweatpants, are my pj's good enough?   ;)




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Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: bigcountry on January 26, 2010, 06:08:53 pm
Goodness thats a pretty tiller.
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: Josh on January 26, 2010, 06:10:56 pm
Gotta agree... looks great hand-drawn!   :)  -josh
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: Badger on January 26, 2010, 06:32:09 pm
Elk. mass princ calls for 21 0z on that bow. Looks great. Steve
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: Cooper on January 26, 2010, 06:47:29 pm
I would prefer a little more bending in the middle and outer limbs

(http://foto.arcor-online.net/palb/alben/61/331061/1280_3634636535656139.jpg)

but that's a matter of opinion of course.
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: elk country rp on January 26, 2010, 07:02:15 pm
thanks, everyone!

i have 50 or so shots through it & i'm starting to see what looks like the faintest little flat spot on the lower mid limb, but i don't plan to do anything about it for at least another 100 arrows (later- have to rest my shoulders, this thing is a brute).

i'm a little hesitant to do much to the tips (maybe a little thinning if anything), since i glued in most of the reflex from mid limb out. i'd cry for days if i messed it up now!

Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: Keenan on January 26, 2010, 07:19:46 pm
very nice looking bow, tiller looks great!
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: DanaM on January 26, 2010, 08:40:01 pm
Great looking bow but ya need to get some more flamboyant jammies ;) :D
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: Postman on January 26, 2010, 11:16:28 pm
Nice bow! way to take some freezin' for the manny shot!
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: Badger on January 27, 2010, 04:19:05 am
   Nice tiller but I agree with you slightly more in the outer limbs might have been better, is the bow shocky to shoot or well behaved? If well behaved I think you are fine as is. Steve
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: Del the cat on January 27, 2010, 05:10:45 am
Isn't it a bit chilly to be out in your pyjamas? ;D
Del
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: barebo on January 27, 2010, 06:47:36 am
Looks like a great bow -- I know what you mean about resting the shoulders - the Ipe longbow I finished is pretty stout also!!
I like the tiller profile the way it is - are you getting much shock on release ??  I'd say that you've got a winner there - Nice Work !!
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: Parnell on January 27, 2010, 10:53:56 am
I love a simple D bow and that is a great combination.  I made one myself, a little less length and a little less weight.  It looks awesome being drawn against the snow like that.  Kinda funny to see Ipe in snow.  Are you going to take it into the bathroom to give it some humidity?
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: Rich Saffold on January 27, 2010, 01:14:06 pm
I'm with Badger and why you really can't say much about these tillers from a photo..Is really about the amount of limb movement relative to the unbraced profile.. Just because they are straight looking now doesn't mean its unloading all its energy. And this come from shooting it and how it performs and feels in the hand..

This is why I shoot my bows in and  make any necessary minor tiller adjustments  as opposed to working it out on the tree and then finding out somethings "changed" ;).

Most of these bows don't look like "normal" bows at full draw, and its easily to be wrapped up in the visual aspect of one photo as opposed to watching the limbs in motion..

Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: medicinewheel on January 27, 2010, 05:55:51 pm
Isn't it a bit chilly to be out in your pyjamas? ;D
Del

Seriously: I have pyjama pants with the EXACT same pattern, no kidding!

Sure is a nice bow!
Congrats!
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: half eye on January 27, 2010, 06:16:37 pm
I agree with Rich and Steve, If that baby shoots well for you, and the way you had in mind all along....then shoot that baby!
      The fact that it looks really good (which yours does) is not as important as how it performs for you.
half eye ;)
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: elk country rp on January 28, 2010, 02:00:13 am
my wife helped me "convert" a few light (450gr) arrows into a more respectable weight range (700-800gr range). she's brilliant at times! with the heavier arrows it's whisper quiet & soft in the hand. the heavy arrows are hard on my little indoor target, though- never built a bow that hits this hard before! it's a blast to shoot now & i can't wait to get out & start stumping with it (only 4 feet of snow in the way right now)  :-\

i think part of the reason it was tiring me out more yesterday was just the whole "new bow- afraid to really pull hard through my anchor" syndrome. it seems like they're always harder to shoot when you first start shooting them in (and in the back of your mind you're expecting a big BOOM!). anyone else notice this, or is it more of a rookie bowyer thing?

oh, and those are my light weight "tillering jammies". i'll bust out the "finishing jammies" for the next round of pics....
i'll get some more full draw pics after a few hundred arrows & compare the tiller to the ones i posted. if the reflex is still holding strong in the tips, i may thin them a bit then.

thank you all for the replies! it's incredibly helpful to have as much combined experience & brilliance (& a little bs- we need that!) of this forum to help.
Rob


Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: ohma on January 28, 2010, 01:30:19 pm
great looking bow ,great pics .and even bed clothes go well with a well made bow.
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: Josh on January 28, 2010, 01:51:09 pm

i think part of the reason it was tiring me out more yesterday was just the whole "new bow- afraid to really pull hard through my anchor" syndrome. it seems like they're always harder to shoot when you first start shooting them in (and in the back of your mind you're expecting a big BOOM!). anyone else notice this, or is it more of a rookie bowyer thing?



I have only been making them for a little over a year and I do the same thing!   I can draw them to 28" a thousand times on the tree with no problems but when I draw it by hand, I flinch the first couple of shots thinking it is going to explode or something....   Don't know why.  So far all the explosions have taken place on the tree.  Haven't blown one up by hand....................yet.   ;)  -josh
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: OldBow on January 28, 2010, 03:51:26 pm
Not many of forum members could do a better tiller than you have. Is this a laminate bow? wood on wood??
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: mox1968 on January 28, 2010, 04:26:37 pm
lovely looking tiller ,the manny shot looks like you might have frozen your assetts off but great looking bow and pics too
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: elk country rp on January 29, 2010, 01:18:50 am
thanks ohma & mox- it was a balmy 28F that day

Josh- maybe it'll go away after 200 bows.....  lol  i've had 2 break in my hand, a very anticlimactic hickory jumping out of my hand with a broken tip & a juniper that produced 9 different pieces & a small pile of splinters- including one 3" splinter stuck in the ceiling  :o

OldBow- thank you very much! it's hickory & ipe, my favorite combo- with quite a bit of design inspiration from Rich & alot of time shaping limbs before it ever got near a string (thanks, Manny). i'm a definite fan of thick backings on ipe now.

Rob

 
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: Eric Krewson on January 29, 2010, 11:12:52 am
I guess I am the harshest tiller critic on the site,  some have accused me of being downright mean. I can't find a thing wrong with your tiller and think it looks as close to perfect as any I have critiqued so far, great job!
Title: Re: tiller check- please be critical- full draws & a "Manny" shot added
Post by: Tractor on January 29, 2010, 12:03:27 pm
Rob that is a stunning bow.  Can we see some more pictures, unstrung, belly and back.  I love how simple the lines are. 

And Eric's comments give me hope because I have sat here and stared at those pics and all I could think was that if there WAS something wrong with that tiller then I might as well give up ever trying to tiller a bow.  I swear I couldn't draw an arc that sweet with a compass.

Beautiful work

Mike