Different Amounts of Set Between Limbs (Pics added)

[bushboy]

Yes I agree the bottom is weaker.if you turn the photo sideways and upside down it's plain to see.i bet if you. Turned the bow 180 and made the top the bottom it would be near perfect.

[bushboy]

Also it's a good idea to take a full draw shot from opposite sides cuz. It can be slightly different and also it's natural to cant the bow a little to keep the arrow from falling off.

[BarredOwl]

Yes I agree the bottom is weaker.if you turn the photo sideways and upside down it's plain to see.i bet if you. Turned the bow 180 and made the top the bottom it would be near perfect.

As much as I would like to just leave it as is I see what you are seeing when I rotate the picture.
Due to a little snakeyness in the grain I may have to leave the top and bottom orientation as is.  If so I probably need to just start taking a few scrapes at a time off the top limb till it evens up better?

[mikekeswick]

I would advise against flipping the bow now. It will have settled to being drawn the way it is.
Yes the lower is a bit weak. All you should need to do is use some 60 grit paper on the upper limb evenly. I would put a series of pencil marks over the whole belly of that limb and remove. Then work down through the grits taking one full pass each time. Just be gentle! Not much wood needs to come off and give it a lot of exercising by hand at every pass.
My main tip is to watch the set as you tiller. Trace the outline of the sideprofile onto something before you ever bend it. Any set at all during tillering is telling you where to remove wood....and the wood is never wrong!! Human eyes can be!

[Dances with squirrels]

Mike, I mostly agree, although an even amount of set all over doesn't tell us where to remove wood, it more tells us we could have left a little more behind... somewhere... somehow... during design perhaps.

[PatM]

   Many people believe that an even amount of minimal set shows that they are at optimum mass per design. Clearly they have gone a little too far but that seems to be the accepted thinking.

[BarredOwl]

Thanks a bunch everybody.  I think I have learned a lot.

 

   Many people believe that an even amount of minimal set shows that they are at optimum mass per design. Clearly they have gone a little too far but that seems to be the accepted thinking.

This is what I need to learn. What is "gone a little too far"?  I started seeing some set in this bow at 20" and 50 lbs, which wouldn't have been an acceptable draw length for me at all.
Is that to say had I shot for a lower draw weight for the width/length I would have been less likely to have set at a longer draw length?  or  Had I went with a wider limb I would have been less likely to get set?  Or would  I have had to settle for a shorter draw length regardless of the draw weight if all other design elements remained as they are/were.  It has always been my understanding that some amount of "set" is unavoidable in almost every bow.  If you start tillering with reflex in the bow or in this case flipped tips you may only lose a portion of the reflex you started with and end up with no "string follow" or tips that are even with the handle even though the limbs took a little set. 

[Del the cat]

Yup ... set happens.
A bow that has taken NO set AT ALL during tillering is IMO not working hard enough.
Other opinions may vary, terms and conditions apply, contestants must be 18 years or over 
Del

[mikekeswick]

Mike, I mostly agree, although an even amount of set all over doesn't tell us where to remove wood, it more tells us we could have left a little more behind... somewhere... somehow... during design perhaps.

Even set everywhere means that it's working too hard inner limbs and not enough in the outers.
Set will tell you everything you need to know.
Remember the bowyers bible mantra.

[Dances with squirrels]

Now I disagree. If only the inner limb is overly strained, the limb will take irreversible compaction there, with the balance of the limb maintaining its original profile. That's different than a limb taking an even amount of set the whole way along the limb.

[bradsmith2010]

wood is not perfect,, if it shoots good,, it is perfect,, if you want to make the bow have a positive tiller ok,, but if it is shooting good,,,at full draw the tiller may be great, and just look not great unbraced,,, looks are not the final definition of a bows quality,, the way it shoots is #1

[BarredOwl]

Good point Brad.  With no experience with all wood bows just wanting to prevent any irreversible damage possible so that hopefully I will be hunting with it this fall.  It is shooting good enough but I don't know what might be possible so I plan to sang the upper limb a little and see if I can get the top limb bending more like the bottom.

[bradsmith2010]

i have done that myself,, I like the bottom limb to be a little positive,, most the time is easier for me to get good flight with my less than perfect release,,  when you are getting perfect arrow flight,, the tiller is pretty good,,