New Longbow (pic heavy)

[wood_bandit99]

Hey guys, I have a special bow for Eric bess that he ordered. This bow's character is all natural and was fun to make to say the least. The tiller looks all jacked but I assure u it is tillered good no handshock at all. It is amazingly quiet and fast. I wanted it to come out at 50# @ 30" an it came out at 49# @ 30" close enough I guess it is 64" long with a set of grooves for stringing. And it will have a deer fur rest and some stuff written on it. It shoots almost all arrows like darts and is very fun to shoot. It has about a 1/4" stringfollow. So enough talking.....LETS BRING OUT THE BOW!!!!!!

[wood_bandit99]

More

[wood_bandit99]

Money shot

[wood_bandit99]

I will get some bigger pics when I get home on the computer

[bow101]

Looks great I like the handle section.

[rossfactor]

That's a tough stave to tiller with the uneven limb profile. You're right that you don't shy away from bumps and bends.

The upper limb looks pretty good, however, the lower limb is bending a whole lot right out of the fade, and not bending very much in the outer 2/3 of the limb.

IMO there are two ways to deal with staves like this... one is to use heat to create a more even limb profile before you start tillering.  The other is to tiller with the limb profile that the stave gives you.  Option two is more difficult because the proper tiller will not necessarily be visually evident, but rather is a function of achieving an even strain throughout limbs that start out uneven Seems like you've chosen option two, and while I think you made a good effort at it, the lower limb is dangeriously close to a hinge right out of the fade.   Personally I wouldn't feel comfortable selling this bow to someone else.

Thanks for posting it though, I'm glad you're making bows. How does it shoot?

Gabe

[Josh B]

I don't think its very far off at all.  That is a tricky one.  That lower limb is deflexed out of the fade at unbrace which makes it look like a hinge and then reflexed midlimb making it appear flat.  I'm actually quite impressed, all things considered.  Josh

[osage outlaw]

Be careful filing the string grooves across the back of the bow like that.  It could create a place for a splinter to lift.  If you use some overlays like horn, wood, or antler you can make the grooves like that with no worries of a splinter.

[Ifrit617]

+1 to what both Josh and Clint said. I too am quite impressed by that tiller, while I'm a bit worried about the nocks.

Jon

[Zion]

if i were you i would heat treat the deflexed section of the lower limb...maybe even bend it straight a bit, even though it's admirable that you are tillering what the stave gave you, sometimes the stave can't handle it, good job tho.

[steve b.]

Gutsy.  That's a tough one.  Proof is in the pudding and it looks like you made some.

[Josh B]

if i were you i would heat treat the deflexed section of the lower limb...maybe even bend it straight a bit, even though it's admirable that you are tillering what the stave gave you, sometimes the stave can't handle it, good job tho.

I'm not understanding your point Zion.  The wood is under no more strain with that wonky profile than it would be if it was straight IF it's tillered properly.  And I do believe this one is.  Furthermore,  having already been tillered and shot in some, heat bending it straight now would be courting disaster in my opinion.  The belly wood cells have already been deformed by compression.  They would likely tear apart if you tried to stretch the belly out to make it straight.   If I misunderstood you, by all means straighten me out.  Josh

[wood_bandit99]

Thanks guys and I swear it is really good tiller. Rossfactor, it has zero kick or vibration on shot and is super quiet and fast. Thanks guys for your input, and u guys are awesome. I thought about the tiller in my sleep because of how hard it was. I was literally banging my head against the wall trying to get it straight. Eric is going to hunt with it this year and ill post pics if he gets anything. On to the next one

[Zion]

Gun doc you're right, i did a crappy job explaining lol, sorry about that. What I'm trying to say is that BEFORE tillering the bow, then you could heat it straight, I know i made it sound otherwise. To me it looks like the transition from the deep handle into the 1/3 of the limb is taking more strain than otherwise necessary, even if it IS deflexed. By saying that sometimes the stave has limitations, I meant that maybe the wood right under the handle could be left a little thicker, or be heat treated, since it's being pushed so hard by the reflexed outer limb. I'm still learning, this is just my observation. Please correct me if my reasoning is wrong.

[okie64]

Thats a tough one! A bow with that profile is difficult to tiller by eye and even more difficult to look at a pic and try to decide if the tiller is good. So if it feels like it has even limb strain and shoots good with no handshock as you say it does then I'll take your word for it. Good Job on a difficult stave. Where are you at in Oklahoma?