First Molly - Tiller check

[Matt S.]

I'm working (slowly) on my first Mollegabet. So far it seems like it's coming along pretty good with a couple of small issues. The first is that I'm not 100% sure if the tiller looks right for a Mollegabet. The second is that it seems like the limbs have a slight twist to them that none of my previous bows have ever had.

I'll let the photos do the talking, any advice is welcome. If you need more details on the bow please let me know.

Here she is on the tree pulled to 21". I have had her pulled to 24" but I can't take a photo and pull her that far at the same time (guess I'm just not that talented, lol). You can see the twist I mentioned in the right limb near the lever fade. If I flip the bow around you see the same amount of belly on the other limb, so I guess that would be propeller twist?


Here's looking down the belly of the braced bow. You can sort of see the twist. I think it may be caused by the curvy grain of the wood. You can see how I tried laying out the lever to bring the string close to the center of the handle.

You can sort of see the twist here. The limbs are even thickness from side to side.

Does this amount of twist look bad or am I over analyzing things?

How does the tiller look?

Thanks

[billy bowmaker]

it's looking very promising.  nice work so far.   looks like the one limb-tip is further ground-ward than the other one, but that is easy to fix

[half eye]

Matt,
       That limb tiller is about perfect for a Mollegabet. If you want, as you continue toward your weight goal tiller on the outer 1/3 of the working limbs.....but your symetry looks perfect.
       The limb twist looks (to me) to be coming from the lever fade down a couple of inches. If it was mine I'd correct the twist first (on the strong, or less bend) side....then correct any symetry issues that may have come up.....then tiller to weight.

Dont think any of this is bad....... that tiller is so good that I dont believe that small twist would even hurt it, but if ya want to straighten it out, just do that first. JMO
rich

[Matt S.]

Thanks for the advice guys. Half eye, sounds like a plan. just wish I had more time to work on her...

[Elktracker]

Thats looking very nice!

[ken75]

i would have to agree with Rich , but the first thing i would do is sand your back corners smooth and round. pic of the back of the lever fade looks dangerous

great looking bow by the way i think your gonna enjoy shooting that one !!

[bubby]

Rich and Ken both nailed it, always round all you're edges before ya start bending the bow, and sometimes you will get some twist that won't go away, a little twist won't kill ya on a wood bow, looking good, Bub

[Matt S.]

Thanks again guys. I'm not sure if it's from the camera angle or flash but I always round the edges of all my bows before floor tillering. The back edges look much worse in that picture than they really are.

[scp]

The wood appears to be maple. What is the draw weight at 24"?
I made several similar bows with maple staves and broke two.
They were 66" ntn #50@28", Now I stick to white oak staves for Molly.

[Matt S.]

The wood appears to be maple. What is the draw weight at 24"?
I made several similar bows with maple staves and broke two.
They were 66" ntn #50@28", Now I stick to white oak staves for Molly.

It's actually red oak from a 1x3 board. The working limb is 2-1/4" wide out of the handle and tapers to 1-7/8" at the lever fade. Right now it's drawing approximately 50# at 24" and only shows about 5/8" set at the tips, so I'm planning on a final draw of about 60# @ 28".

White oak should work great, I hear it's as tough as hickory.

[bubby]

Matt, on a molly style bow you measure the set at the end of the working limb, not the end of the lever/tip, how's the twist going, Bub

[scp]

I usually don't worry about set. I just steam bend the tips at the end of the working limbs, giving the bow the side profile of 'Khotan bow'. http://www.atarn.org/chinese/khotan_bow.htm Not sure whether it's a good idea in terms of performance. But it sure makes a pretty side profile. Not that Matt's Molly is not pretty. Wonderful work. Let us know the amont of the final set, please.

[Matt S.]

Matt, on a molly style bow you measure the set at the end of the working limb, not the end of the lever/tip, how's the twist going, Bub

Ah, so it's even less than I thought which means it's probably overbuilt by a large margin (not that I'm complaining, I prefer slightly overbuilt bows).
Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to work on it as all my free time has been spent on the house    Maybe I'll get a few moments this weekend to finish her up.

I usually don't worry about set. I just steam bend the tips at the end of the working limbs, giving the bow the side profile of 'Khotan bow'. http://www.atarn.org/chinese/khotan_bow.htm Not sure whether it's a good idea in terms of performance. But it sure makes a pretty side profile. Not that Matt's Molly is not pretty. Wonderful work. Let us know the amont of the final set, please.

Those are some very interesting bows in the link. When (if) this bow is finished I'll post it up and give all the details.

[Arrowind]

Looks good.  I like it.  I started my first Molly yesterday.  I hope it turns out as good as yours.  Good work!