Newbie tillering

[vinemaplebows]

So, I personally start at the last 1/3 of the limb tillering working back tward the fade.....I have seen newbies tiller (or try)starting at the fades, eventually folding the bow.....so how do the rest of you tiller.

VMB

[bow101]

Depends what you mean by start..?  I rough it out yada...yada.... then work on it mostly in the limb centers, getting it to floor tiller stage and take it from there.   Usually leave the fades till near the end.  If I tiller some other way I would end up with a kids bow.

[vinemaplebows]

That's what I mean YADDA YADDA...

[bow101]

To be more specific, the start for me is all over........ so no specific spot.

[Utmostcone]

well usually, one the bow is at the floor tillered stage i put away the knife and take out the rasp. With the rasp start shaving down the center or tips, then move toward the handle. eventually when the taper is correct, to get the weight right take equal shavings down the whole rim. get stiff spots out by rasping them

[Joec123able]

To be more specific, the start for me is all over........ so no specific spot.

For the most part same here I just gett it as even as possible over the entire limb during floor tiller

[wood_bandit 99]

I get it bending a little in outer and inner 3rd and more in the middle 3rd. I think, I don't really pay attention to how it bends I just look for a pretty good bend at first floor tiller and then do a few inch long string and then short string from 8"- however many inches I want. That's how I tiller

[Bryce]

i measure out my thickness taper(varies depending on the amount of crown) make the brace look as good as I can, then i do the same. start at the last 1/3 (or 2/3) mark and work my way in towards the handle.

[huisme]

I try to make my first string the last string.

That is, I try to nail the floor tiller so there are no adjustments to make at low brace, and then move on to the short string and still have no adjustments to make. Every adjustment/re-stringing I have to perform is a point against myself, like golf. So far my par is probably around ten, but my best was a three.

[Del the cat]

ELB or Warbow. (from a stave)
Rough it out to approx dimensions. Get a fairly even thickness taper.
Put on a string which will just get on the stave, pull  to see if it's fairly even flex, using upto max draw weight.
Look and see how it bends, remove wood where appropriate. As a rule I like to see a bit of movement in the inner third, then I work outwards.
Once the tips are coming back about 6-7" shorten the string with Del's magic string toggle and continue to tiller.
This method gets you bending at a higher weight than maybe necessary, but when working a stave you need the leeway as you will doubtless have dips, knots and allignment problems to work around. If you are too close to final weight too early you'll have no room for manouver.
I reckon it's especially true of a warbow, if you can flex it on the floor, you may be too weak already!
Del

[Pappy]

Floor tiller,then middle 2/3 or so then as I get closer to draw and weightI move toward the fads,I usuall leave the last 6 or 8 inches stiff on mine so I just try and keep that caught up close to the rest of the limb as I go along.never measure or lay out any limb tapper,I let the wood tell me that. On a pyramid I try and get an even limb thickness to start off and go from there. 
 Pappy

[artcher1]

I apply the appropriate taper (I don't do a lot of pyramid bows) per limb design and let that produce the desired tiller/profile instead of tillering a little bit here or there to produce a taper. Long string sometimes to bleed off weight at brace height and then on to a permanent string reducing for weight mostly.......Art

[Wooden Spring]

I tiller via miracles... In other words, I start with a scraper and random orbital sander, and I pretend that I know what I'm doing...
Remove wood where it's not bending enough, and stay away from areas where it's bending too much.
It's like this for me: If it doesn't bend enough, it's a flat spot. If it bends too much, it's a hinge. If it's got a good bend, it's a miracle.

[Pappy]

  now that was funny histanley. 
   Pappy

[Wooden Spring]

now that was funny histanley. 
   Pappy

It would be funny if it wasn't true!!! 
Oh, well...  There's folks on here whose AWESOME Woodworking Ninja skills would permit them to make a bow out of an old piece of driftwood... I'm still at the point of "getting the feel" of things, and that process involves a LOT of failures mixed in with some successes, followed by celebratory dinners!

The first time that I made a bow that could actually shoot, I was so excited that I made a noise that my wife said sounded like a giggly little school girl. I still get excited when I make a bow that shoots, but since that first embarrasing episode I now follow the acronym: S-L-A-W... That is - Scream Like A Woman.