need help losin weight

[Stixnstones]

osage , 65# @ 26" shootin for 50 - 55 @ 28, should i start sanding n shootin in or what , frustrated

[PEARL DRUMS]

Keep tillering it down?

[chamookman]

To start with, You have already over-drawn the bow by pulling it past the intended draw weight. I would scrape the limbs a bit - get it on the wall and not draw it past 55lbs as You continue to tiller. All is not lost, just go SLOWLY now - best of luck, Bob.

[hunterbob]

Don't we all. Lol.
I would keep scraping and get it closer to your target weight. Never pull past 50 or 55

[wizardgoat]

should for sure be sanded down till theres no more tool marks, then check your tiller again.
I'd remove only 20-30 scrapes at a time, in select spots. go REAL slow. Pull your bow on the tiller
to 55 pounds only, your not gaining anything by pulling it past your desired end draw weight.
Every scraping session you should see your draw length dropping by half inch or so.
when you get to 26" or 27", stop tillering and give all a good sanding. it may need a few more scrapes.
I lost 3 pounds on my last bow from sanding in the end, i should of removed all tools marks a little earlier.
good luck!

[hunterbob]

I try not to have hardly any tool marks from around sixty down to 50 pounds . After every wood removal I sand and get it pretty close to a completed bow . Then when you are done you can use one small piece of 80 grit and sand easy and then use 220 . Then 320 and 500 grit you can keep going finer if you want. But my final sanding might take me around 15 to 20 minutes.

[PAHunter]

Just wanted to note that 10#s is a LOT of sanding.     Might want to scrape or even rasp that bad boy down a bit and do the last few pounds sanding.  Good luck!

[Stixnstones]

thanx guys thats what i forgot , dont pull past intended weight , seems like i always forget a step gonna try n post this bow when wife gets home shes got the good camera, agin thanx for the help,ur the best

[Pat B]

If your tiller is good make long scrapes on each limb to reduce weight without changing tiller. give each limb 10 to 20 scrapes, put it on the tiller tree and exercise the limbs well then check the weight again. Do this until you get to where you want to be weight wise. Keep checking the tiller and adjust accordingly.
 You can also brace the bow and let it sit braced for a couple of hours. This will help it register the weight reduction like exercising does.

[Stixnstones]

was thinkin aboot keepin it strung but worried aboot string follow so far there is none

[sweeney3]

Keeping it strung won't reduce the draw weight at your target length, but it will drastically reduce the cast per pound of draw weight.  In other words, you'll still be pulling near 65 pounds, but getting 30-40 pounds of cast out of it.  Keep tillering and don't pull it past your target weight any more.  You probably already have some set, but some is okay.  Just don't blow it up or cause too much. 

[bubby]

I leave my bows strung while i'm scraping and working tiller, it's harder on it unstringing and stringing over and over imho, bub

[DarkSoul]

Keeping it strung won't reduce the draw weight at your target length, but it will drastically reduce the cast per pound of draw weight.  In other words, you'll still be pulling near 65 pounds, but getting 30-40 pounds of cast out of it.  (...)

I'm really interested where you've read this phrase. To me, it sounds as absolute rubbish. It's simply not true that a bow will loose a lot of performance if left strung for a period of several hours. But if it were the case, where does the performance loss come from if the draw weight remains the same? During an archery competition, we leave our bows strung for several hours in a row, right? Yet, do we see any major loss in performance? No, we don't. It is of course not good to leave a wooden bow strung for a day or even longer, as that will induce more set (and therefore lower the draw weight). This will rob performance, but never to the extend of losing 25 to 35 pounds.

[PatM]

Even the whole "don't draw it past your intended draw weight" is a bit blown out of proportion. If the bow clearly shows it's not overstrained at the heavier weight then it will be fine.
 

[Pat B]

I always "sweat" my bows while I'm tillering once I realize everything is even. I start at first brace and leave it strung for about an hour. As the tillering progresses the sweat time lengthens. By the time I have the tillering done and the bow shot in I want to be able to leave my bow strung for a few hours at lease while hunting or shooting 3D without any loss of performance. By doing this and exercising well after every wood removal I rarely loose any weight shooting in the bow.