First bow

[bubby]

it look's stiff mid limb out to me, i'd take some scrapes from both limbs and see how she look's, Bub

[Sambone]

Thanks. I kinda thought so too. But I am so inexperienced at this I'm not sure and why I need all the advise I can get. There have already been lots of lessons learned on this one and I have more boards to practice on. I also have three Osage staves that after more experience I will tackle those or trade one for help building one.

[bubby]

Del had a great idea, for full compass tiller hold a cd or a plate up and you will see where it need's work, Bub

[Sambone]

I don't understand what you are saying. Can you please explain full compas tiller?

[NruJaC]

Arc of the circle, full compass, etc. Basically if you want the tiller to look circular. You can hold a plate up from a distance to see if the bow is correctly following a circular arc.

[ScottN]

Have you heard of the "tillering gizmo"? I recommend taking a look at the post below. This tool helps me greatly in tillering!

http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=001047

Basically, it is a 1inX1in square block of wood, 6in long with tapered ends. You drill a hole through the center of the wood, and then a little bit bigger of a hole halfway into it that is big enough to bang in a nut. A wooden pencil will get screwed into this nut. You then put your bow on your tillering tree and start pulling it down to your draw length. Lay this block of wood flat on your bow and run it up and down the limbs, keep your eye close to it and find the spot that has the biggest gap between your bow and this block. Adjust the pencil so that it is just off of touching your bow. After the pencil is adjusted, run this wood up and down the whole bow- the pencil will mark your stiff spots and show you were you need to scrape.

Once you can get it to run a full pencil line on your bow without any breaks, your tiller should be close to perfect. You may still need to eye it though for some finishing touches. As well as keeping an eye on your fades if you have any.

[H Rhodes]

I think it looks great.  Sometimes pics don't do a bow justice.  If it is shooting good, I wouldn't worry about it much.  Shoot some arrows through it and see how it settles in.  Sometimes folks leave a good bow on the tiller tree too long, pulled too close to full draw for too long (looking for perfect tiller)  and end up with too much set or messing up a good thing.  Remember to not leave it at full draw for more than a few seconds.  I did that once upon a time...       I think that your tiller looks good and that it looks like a shooter to me.  Great first bow.  Now your hooked.   Enjoy it and build you another one before long.  What types of wood do you have access to?  I think that if you can make a good bow out of red oak, you will find that you probably won't have much trouble with making a first rate bow out of the more preferred bow woods. 

[Sambone]

I have a couple if Osage staves. I also have access to some hickory. I have enough Ted oak left to make another board bow or two which I will do for more experience before tackling the Osage.

[H Rhodes]

Heck yeah!  Sounds like a plan.  Warning - this bow building stuff is terribly addictive!  Hickory is very forgiving.  You really have to screw up to break one outta hickory.  I have only made one out of osage so far, so I probably ain't the guy to talk to about it.  There are enough osage fanatics on this site to give you all the help you need though.   They talked me through my first one.  Welcome aboard.