Tiller advice yew shorty

[stuckinthemud]

Hi all,
I am tillering a yew short bow 54" ntn; draw weight at brace is 35# but she will only bend another two inches draw weight rising to 40. I am looking for 40 at 26" draw, but am running out of timber to pare down so do i need to steam in some deflex, or will yew take more thinning? Ring count is  6 sapwood rings remaining, about the same for the heartwood.

[wizardgoat]

Post some pics please

[stuckinthemud]

Will post some tomorrow when I can access some decent computers

[Del the cat]

I'm confused...
The draw weight at brace is zero, always was, always will be.
The draw weight to pull it to far enough to brace using a long sting may be 35#, in which case, if it's coming back far enough to brace then put a short string on it and measure the draw weight at say 5", 10" draw.
Del

[stuckinthemud]

Hi Del,

my mistake with the terminology; it takes 35lb to brace it, there-after draw-weight is 40 but I can only draw it two inches before it stiffens up (stacks?) and I get scared its gonna go bang.

[bubby]

Well brace it to 3" then pull till you hit 40#, check the limbs with a gizmo or six inch straight edge and scrape where needed, once both limbs are bending good exercise and pull to 40#, repeat and so on till you get to your draw length, i only use the tiller tree till around 20-22" then i start stretching it out while shooting it in

[stuckinthemud]

Thanks Bubby,
I had forgotten about exercising-in a bow, anyone know the science behind why the process works - does repeated flexing soften the wood fibres? I suppose you can eventually wear-out a self-bow? 

[wizardgoat]

That photo is only partial, but I'm using my phone so maybe it's on my end.
To get good tiller advice, good photos are a must.
Front profile, unbraced, braced, and drawn to wherever your at.
As with any bow always maintain a good thickness taper.
Basically, run your "finger calipers" down the limbs and there
should be no thin or thick spots.
It's hard to tell in the photo, but it almost looks like your handle is thinner than
fade area? Your handle should be the thickest part of the bow, and gradually taper off
When you exercise your teaching your bow to bend. Don't know the science, but I see it as
warming it up, breaking it in and trying to keep the springiness. Yew likes a good exercising
after all wood removal.  Helps keep set low

[stuckinthemud]

Good news! Thanks to your good advice, on a short string, 'shorty' drew out to 23 inches.  Bad news! The short string was not up to a poundage in excess of 45#and went bang!  The bow is undamaged, but I have no Dacron or other string-material so everything is on hold till I make up a new string........

[stuckinthemud]

While I am waiting for the new bow string, the bow has developed about 3 inches set, is this a bad thing?  If it is, do I need to steam it out?   If I am steaming the bow, then could I also take the opportunity to flip the tips a little?  If I do flip the tips, then what do I need to be wary of - the tips of the bow are currently 10mm wide with temporary nocks carved-in