New guy question

[Eric Krewson]

I have found that limb bending anomalies are usually the problem also, I call this timing as it has to to with the return rate. These can be so small you wouldn't think they will matter but they do, a gizmo will sort them out.

I just made a billet bow with vastly dissimilar limbs, one was rock hard the other was mushy. I thought the billets matched when I pulled them out of the pile, they didn't.

This bow was shocky and shot a corkscrew arrow, I sanded here and there and tweaked this and that for a month. I went to positive and negative tiller, nothing worked.

After I put about 1000 arrows through it it magically fell into line on its own and is now one of my best shooting bows.

Talk about miss matched billets, the yellow billet is rock hard, the red one is soft;

[Allyn T]

Eric how do you think they balanced out, what does the tiller look like now?

[Eric Krewson]

Almost all selfbow tillers change over time until they settle in, some never do and may need tiller tweaking every few years. I have both kinds of bows in my stable.

Just a guess but I think pulling the bow from the same point every time possibly stressed one limb over the other and mellowed out the limb with the fast return.

I have had bows with a slight propellor straighten out over time just from being shot a bunch. Apparently the stiff limb side gets more stress and loosens up.

The tiller is 1/8" positive on the top limb, my gizmo set with 1/16" of pencil showing won't mark the limbs, I shoot split finger.

[Marc St Louis]

You should be able to see the difference from brace to full draw, stands out more at full draw

[Flntknp17]

Three things that I take into account:

Make sure the arrows are MATCHED to the bow.  So often we as bowyers (I am absolutely guilty) have a bin of mismatched arrows that we use for testing and shooting bows and the fact is that an arrow that isn't properly matched to a given bow will not leave the string with as much energy as it could/should and that left-behind energy will show up as noise and shock.

Make sure the brace height is high enough.  I have shot many bows that seemed awful at a given brace height, but were amazing with just a 1/2" change in brace.  I think anything you can do to alter the dynamics of the system is worth trying and brace height is probably the easiest.  Also, B50/55 strings will be less shocky than 452X or similar all else being equal.

Use your cell phone to help you.  Most modern smart phones have a "super slo mo" video camera mode that works amazingly well for watching HOW a bow acts during the release and firing process.  You can watch the limbs act and stop the video to see how they are working during the shot.  This works well

Matt

[Selfbowman]

Start your taper at mid limb  that removes lots of mass . It will add speed and reduce shock. Just an opinion. Arvin

[Jim Davis]

I made more than 100 bows in the first few years, then slowed down because I like shooting. But I have never noticed hand shock in any of my bows. I think it's because I hold them only against the heal of my hand when I shoot. The fingers and thumb do nothing.

Years back somebody want me  to shoot his Howard Hill (forget which model). He said it was real shocky. I shot it and didn't notice any hand shock. He then said to grip the bow. The next shot jarred my whole arm and shoulder. I shot the bow some more with a loose grip and found it to be a very nice shooter.

Draw your own conclusion....

[Jurinko]

I made just a few bows but one had really awful handshock, from the wrist through elbow to the arm joint. I narrowed upper midlimb a bit and it improved half, then I cut off an inch off each end to keep the poundage and it improved 100%. I converted it into half pyramid. As someone skilled wrote here, front shape must conform side shape of the tiller. I hauled useless material forward at the shot.

[bradsmith2010]

yes and you reduced the mass weight per poundage of draw

[loefflerchuck]

How long is the bow and how long is the draw? I had a sinew backed osage bow that I thought had a perfect tiller, Narrow tips and a stiff handle. I could not figure out why there was still handshock. The bow was 63" long and drew 60# @ 31". It was Badger that pointed out that even with the whole limb bending evenly throughout, all that bend returning to brace when the arrow was released was the reason for the shock.

[sleek]

Its 63" ttt and pulls 45@28.I will post some pics later today of it.  Uts still got hand shock but no where near as bad after making the lower limb weaker.  Id sure like to understand this better.

[bradsmith2010]

are you getting good arrow flight with weaker limb on bottom, and does it appear weaker at full draw,,
Sleek you still didnt say what the mass weight was,, it could be a consideration,, in what you are feeling,, or a combination of several things,, a soft double layer of leather on the handle can help percieved hand shock,,

[willie]

even with the whole limb bending evenly throughout, all that bend returning to brace when the arrow was released was the reason for the shock.

Chuck, How did that limb return different from any other limb? I am having difficulty understanding
thanks

[Badger]

      The only bows I ever had with handshock were the ones that appeared to have perfect tillers on them. I have never heard anyone at the flight shoots talking about shock even shooting little 200 grain arrows. I think too much limb returning to brace at the same time like on a perfectly circular tiller.

[willie]

a stiff handled pyramid bow with perfectly circular tiller on each limb?