A little help

[DennisM]

This bow is a narrow stave from my hickory find of 2 months ago and is my first stave bow.  It's 66" NTN, 1 7/16" at the fades and extends 7" then a straight taper to the tips.  In the pics the R. limb (upper) had a 1" natural reflex that has mostly pulled out, but still seems stiffer on the outer 1/3 of the limb. I was trying to finish tiller to 50# and finish to 45#.  It's raining every day here and high humidity.  I have been very careful heating the bow every day and then going through 3 rasp and scrape sessions and then back inside to the AC.   It has taken no set yet.
It has a small prop. twist, about 10 deg each end, that I was not going to mess with.
A few questions
1)  How does the tiller look?  The R limb appears stiff on the outer       1/3 but it is 1/32" thinner than the L limb and has a natural reflex.

2) In the second pic its pulling 37# and moving the R tip 5", the L tip 4 3/4". Am I ready for low brace?

3) I would like to heat treat the belly. Should I do this now?

Thanks for any advice
Dennis

[ionicmuffin]

IMO the third you mentioned is still stiff. I think that if you get to it but still take it slow you will finish with a nice bow.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Middle right needs to loosen up, then temper it.

[DennisM]

Thanks Pearly
Should I brace it

Dennis

[k-hat]

hate to burst your bubble, but if one limb had 1" of reflex and it has pulled out then it actually has one inch of set.  That means you have one limb with set and one without, which indicates a difference of strain on each limb.  It may not make a diff in the long run, but in the future i would keep that in mind with tiller or reflex the other to match.  It is also correctable with heat treating.  Hope i haven't  opened a can-o-worms here.

I think you are ready for low brace, maybe try a string that is tight on the belly before a 3 or 4" brace.

[DennisM]

hat
No bubbles here.
I may have miss spoke and I know I wasn't clear.  The first pic is the R limb, at 2/3 out it originally dropped down then came back to level. This has mostly pulled out, seems straighter.  Each limb has taken about 1/4" of set

[PEARL DRUMS]

I wouldnt brace it. Get that right side moving a touch more and temper it. The tempering will change things. Give it a day or two to stabilize and then continue your tillering process. I like to brace a bow very soon, just my thing. I rarely use long strings.

[bubby]

pearlie's got ya squared away, Bub