That picture makes me cringe...I do hope he is wearing safety glasses.
thats exactly what he was doing in this pic! he was cringing because this is when he heard the "Tick"
The fact that it has become stressful and scary is not a good sign. Maybe best to back away at this point. In the interest of his safety though, he needs to know that that is not "popping a splinter" - it looks like the whole growth ring is about to go at that point. I assume it is on the back of the handle? There are some major grain violations there. The limbs are bending better. If it were me, I would encourage him to do a new one, using his improved knowledge and the experience he has gained with tiller (if that stave had a clean back and was bending like it is now in the first photo, no one would have been too concerned!)...then let him make the call. He may have to learn the hard way. You might also mention not to put his face in the direction of travel when the bow blows up!
I told him that at this point I would restart, but its all his call. I told him the tiller doesn't look too good and the pros and cons of staying on this bow or switching. to me switching looks more enticing. I told him to wear saftey glasses and to be very careful! I told him that he may be risking physical injury by continuing. I told him that I am here to help but that he needs to be patient.
the reason its stressful is because I cant really portray whats more important than the rest. my texts have no emotion, no fear that he may get hurt, no sense of urgency, no stress on whats important, and that makes it hard.
What scares me is he is a little impatient. he told me last night that he was going to get it shooting tomorrow. That really rushed me when he asked me for help and it caused a stress fracture in goodness knows where! he lacks the experience that will tell him to stop pulling and to sit down and think. I really should back out, but hes done all this and come so far and if i were to leave him hanging he wouldn't know what to do if this happens, or that, which can hurt what people think about traditional bowyers, as people that work hard to get you somewhere but then leave you hanging expecting you to know what to do. I expect that to be the worst case scenario, or maybe that's a irrational fear of mine. I want to build positive things upon the bowyer community! I mean this guy has 1.5 mil+ people that look to him. its probably that this guy feels even more stress then me, he feels the pressure to perform well, and that he needs to get this done. I dont know.
I have to say by helping him I feel like I'm more than just a high school student. I'm more than someone that's considered weird but i'm someone that can actually help someone. I feel like im not just a kid that likes bending wood, but someone that can achieve more than what people tell me what i am. Me helping him really makes me feel like I can be more.
im sorry that this reply kinda turned into venting. I didn't mean for it to go that far.
