Tiller check and needed advice for corrections

[BowJunkie]

Some time ago I posted a picture of this stave, and the general thought was to proceed as normal and not heat or steam the bend above the handle area. I have posted 3 pics as follows.
1. Original posting picture prior to tillering.
2. Tillered to 55 lbs @ 25'' draw pic. Goal is 55 @ 28
3 picture is unstrung with rit stain.
At this point the upper limb in question has taken on another 1.5'' set.
Notice the bottom limb already has a slight natural flipped tip and has kept it.
My thought is to go ahead and slightly flip the top tip to match the lower, and then heat bend the kink out of the upper limb just above the handle and continue on the tillering  to 28'' draw.
I have shot this bow about 50 times today and is very smooth and no shock.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[gstoneberg]

Johnny, does it shoot well?  If it does I wouldn't mess with it much.  It looks to me like the upper limb is already stiffer than the lower limb.  Taking that bend out is going to make it appear even stiffer and you'll likely have to remove wood to even the tiller back out.  Not a big deal, other than you'll mess up your dye job.  Not sure how flipping that tip will affect the tiller.  I've never done just one and watched the change.  Normally if I don't like a bump in a limb I take it out before I'm done floor tillering.  Just my thoughts.

George

[BowJunkie]

True George the upper limb is a little bit more stiff, and I kept it that way just for this reason.
I never took any wood off of that kinked area above the handle, just at the fade to the handle.
With that said I can easily slim her down.
Does the full draw pic look pretty close to you in your honest opinion?
To me it does. I also didnt want to do anything else that might  throw the tiller off.
I guess the biggest concern is,,, unbraced it just looks jacked up, and I'm to close to 28'' to sacrifice draw weight.
Maybe I should finish her out by weakening up the last 1/3 of the top limb?
They stain job is easily fixed, just mix up some dye and apply

[Del the cat]

It's pretty good, I'd say maybe the centre section of the top limb is a bit straight, so maybe ease that off a tad.
have you tried it upside down?
Del

[gstoneberg]

I'm with Del.  If it were my bow and a limb were naturally a little stiff I'd turn it upside down and see how it shoots.  Now, if you were an absolute tillering purist, you'd want to see a little of that hump in the full draw which would mean that the whole limb is working.  I like to see the arc so I'd probably tiller just like you have.  But, don't call the limb "jacked up", call it "character".  It's something to be celebrated, not something to be frustrated about.  Making a good shooting, durable bow from that stave shows you're a better bowyer.  You've done well.

George

[BowJunkie]

LOL  I'm not frustrated at all. Actually I am getting excited. But still taking my time with it. 
When I pull this off it will be my first successful "sel fbow".
I have made several Board bows, but all of my self bows have failed due to "hidden surprises "
By the way, this is a shag bark Hickory stave, I forgot to mention earlier.
Keep in mind, the upper limb actually bends about 1 inch more than the lower limb.
I haven't tried it upside down yet,,, I wasn't sure if it would stress the wood even further.

[swtchbckshtr]

Im no pro but looks like your done with the bow, figure you shoot it in youll probally get that 3 inches of draw. nice looking bow love the bend above the handle. good luck with it.