Brace height, this sounds crazy but

[bradsmith2010]

  I think it really depends on what you calling character,, or how much it has,,and thats pretty hard to measure,,
I made a straight tip bow a few months ago with what some might call characrter I posted on here,,,,,, it would shoot 175 fps,, with 10 gpp arrow it followed the string bout 1 inch, and I was suprised it shot so well,,,,,, it had what some would call character,, so maybe it could have shot better straight,,, I just make um the best I can,,  I made an osage bow for JEffer one limb reflexed one not, it would shoot 180 fps with 10 grain per pound arrow,, but maybe thats not what you calling character,, just wanted to put in on the thread,,u can see that bow on utubed, jeffer shooting it,,
   and certainly agree distance and speed do not lie,, I like to test my bows,, just to learn to make one better,, and I feel like someone with Jeffers bow,, with a better release than me,, would have made it shoot harder,, I hope,,
   

[willie]

Pull it from where the string hand will be, and adjust limb strength if the hook drifts left or right.

Left or right of what?

[PatM]

A line drawn  mimicking an arrow at full draw.

[Allyn T]

My bow I just made, the upper limb looks a little stiff at full draw but the bow balances perfectly when drawn.

[Selfbowman]

If they don’t have shock they are balanced. If they have shock they aren’t. That’s s it . But you have to have shot one without to know the difference.

[Dances with squirrels]

Willie, I have a vertical line drawn on the wall that mimics my string hand fulcrum traveling perpendicular away from the handle. If the limbs aren't balanced in strength relative to that, the stronger acting limb will pull the hook to its side of the line. When it does, it gets weakened until the hook follows the line. That's it in a tiny nutshell. No shock. No bow tilt in the hand. No arrow porpoising. No tiller change. No moving nock points around to attempt to correct anything. Works the same for bows with identical limbs as it does for bows with limbs like the o.p. mentioned.

Arvin, I never said character bows did or didn't shoot faster or father.

So you guys are going to continue to avoid his original question? I'd like to know too. How would you instruct him to balance this bow's dissimilar shaped limbs' strengths? The top limb appears weaker at brace but is acting stronger as it's drawn. Should he weaken it 'further'? How much? Until it doesn't have hand shock? Yeah, ok. For those who gauge limb strength according to brace height measurements, what should they measure on THIS bow to ensure limb harmony at full draw?

While we continue to wait, I'll answer him. I ain't skeered. Lol. My answer is Yes. If in fact the top limb is acting stronger when drawn, I'd see it right away on my tree as described above, and I wouldn't hesitate to weaken it, even though it already looks weak at brace due to its natural irregularity. I'd balance the strength of this bow's limbs, starting at the beginning of the tillering process, in the same direct, gauged, straightforward process I do all of them, and it wouldn't be a bit more difficult or confusing.

[PatM]

Correct.  Without seeing the bow I would not be sure if things were as stated.

[bradsmith2010]

if the top limb was acting stronger,, I would weaken it even if it appeared weaker at brace, I wasnt avoiding sorry I just wasnt paying attention,, I like the limbs bending as even as I can at full draw,, I shoot well enough to tell if the arrow is flying good,and made bows for people that shoot really well and know what that looks like,,, I reaally expect what I call perfect arrow flight,,, I will say that on shorter bows,, to get the arrow to fly like I like, the way I hold the bow, some positive tiller works for me,, some dont agree,, maybe my form is flawed but that works for me,,bows that are less than 50 inches,,I pretty much agree with what DWS says, I just get there with out as much measuring,, on the tree,, I mainly do final tiller shooting,, but see his method would be very effective,,
   I dont really care if each limb is different,, thats how I learned on osage,, I just balance them to shoot well,,ok I gonna brag just a bit,, ok,,,, you have to be able so shoot well,, to see that,,
   ok maybe I just imagine this,, but I feel like shooting the bow has a different effect on the wood than just pulling it on a tree, I have no proof, but feel like the bow stabilized better for me when I shoot it through out the process of tillereing,, like I said this is just something I have a feeling about,, and might not be right at all,,

[willie]

I have a vertical line drawn on the wall that mimics my string hand fulcrum traveling perpendicular away from the handle.

So with this method, the handle is clamped to stay square with the line on the wall?

the stronger acting limb will pull the hook to its side of the line.

is the hook nocked to the string such that it cannot slide on the string?

[Dances with squirrels]

Willie, no, I don't use anything to keep the hook from sliding. I haven't had that problem. No, the bow's not clamped,  just sitting there, but yes, the handle should be square with the line on the wall. When I use it the way I described, the handle is supported near the ends but just resting on the tree. My preferred handle shape is not likely to tip on my tree unless relative limb balance is off really bad. It has happened a few times though because I start this very early, with a long string, when some folks are still floor tillering, but if it does tip, that immediately tells me which limb is too strong and I correct it before I go further. But yes it could be clamped, and/or shimmed so the handle area remains level, and it wouldn't change anything in regard to what the hook travel tells us. The hook will drift toward the stronger acting limb.

With it held this way and drawn from where the archer will pull the string, once the limbs are balanced so that the hook perfectly follows the line, it's balanced well for most bow hand holds. It just doesn't reveal where the dynamic balance point is under the hand. So I have an insert to place in the tree cradle that acts as a single pivot point, allowing the bow to pivot freely, and this pivot is able to be moved anywhere within the handle to find exactly where it balances as it's drawn, and limb strength adjustments can be made to fine tune balance and the balance point location.

That movable pivot point is just a short piece of a big halfround double cut file I cut off the end. The teeth keep it from moving on the tree and a piece of thin leather over it keeps it from marking a bow that's nearly finished.

[Selfbowman]

Well put DWS. I did not use a tiller tree for 10 years. I would floor tiller and brace hang the string from a peg over the shop door and pull it and observe the bend and correct the limb from there. I now use a tillering tree. Cause it’s more accurate. And yes my tree is set up just like yours. A pic will follow with the center line draw straight down with draw length measurements on it. And yes the scale hook does move to the strong limb side. I just noticed it one day while tillering a bow. Back the the question at hand . You just have to imagine the wave in the limb thickness thru the arc of the bending limb and think of a imaginary line thru the middle of it. Arvin

[Selfbowman]

Another pic

[Dances with squirrels]

Looks good Arvin.

I don't pull on the centerline though, unless that's where someone's fulcrum is due to a fixed crawl or whatever. I pull where the center of pressure of the string hand is, which for me is about 2/3 of the way down my middle finger. I set all nock points 3/8" above the shelf, so I measured down from there, accounting for the width of the arrow nock, my finger fulcrum, and that's where I drew the line... for me shooting split finger. But I have multiple, movable pulleys on a shaft down below for the pull rope, so I can quickly switch between split finger, 3 under, top limb facing left or right, etc.

[George Tsoukalas]

Tradslinger, have you turned the bow around to look at the tiller from the other side?
Jawge

[Dances with squirrels]

Here's a picture of mine, without the pivot insert. I do the bulk of my tillering with this.