Newbie Tillering

[Jon_W]

This is my second attempt at a bow and the tillering is going ok but not great. The bottom limb (left) limb seems to be bending a lot near the fades but I am  not sure because that limb has 2 knots and some squiggles. Anyone have advice? Hopefully the pictures are decent!

[bownarra]

What wood is it?
How long is it?
What draw weight and length are you going for?
A plain background behind your tiller tree would help

[bownarra]

And what width taper are you using?

[SLIMBOB]

I would suggest, that you take the bow off of the tree, stand in front of a solid color background, a white wall as an example, and then draw the bow by hand.  Have someone snap a pic.  I would only draw it to half the distance your at now, as if there is a problem, you can fix it early in the draw and avoid the problem of damaging one beyond repair by pulling it past that problem.  The tiller will likely look a little different in the hand, with pressure points being what they are when drawing one.  Get your opinions then, half the drawn distance, in hand, with a background that provides contrast with the bow.  Those opinions will be more valuable than any you get right now.  Fix any flat spots and perfect the tiller at say 14 or 15 inches.  When it is near perfect, then go a few inches farther and repeat the pic.  Continue at that pace until you have it perfect at full draw.  You will avoid the cast robbing set that occurs from yanking one back too far, too early.

[Jon_W]

Ok so it's HHB, 68" ntn, looking for a 55# bow at 30". I tried to have a gradual taper from around 2" at the fades. But some character got in the way. I'll get those pictures as soon as I can!

[Jon_W]

Ok, here is part draw. The only solid background I have at the cabin is on some stairs.

[SLIMBOB]

That looks pretty good to me.  So a few things...the background is better.  Nock an arrow, draw to 15 inches and have the arrow pretty level with the horizon, then snap a pic.  How does the string track across the handle?  As a start goes, this looks pretty close in my opinion.  Fine tuning the tiller at that distance will require fine tuning the pics a bit, but once you are really close at this distance, the rest is typically just gliding in for a smooth landing.

[bownarra]

You appear to have a nice loose grip on the bow but the lower limb is coming back towards you - if you are pulling the string at the correct spot (nock your arrow an 1/8" up from square to the top of your grip) - then that would indicate the lower limb is too stiff overall. It's important to pull the string in the correct spot.
With these sort of staves it is hard to tell if the tiller is good as you aren't looking for a picture perfect tiller (like on a perfect straight stave or laminatedbow). A good tip when you first get your bow roughed out is to trace the backs side profile onto something. Then as you progress through tillering your bow will start taking set ...somewhere....the tracing of your unstressed pre-set stave will give you a reference to compare your part tillered bow to. You should be aiming for no set in the inner limbs, a little mid limb and the rest mid to outer limb.

[Jon_W]

Thanks for the comments! Unfortunately I live in an apartment so the only space I have to work on the bow is a 3 hour drive away. So I am a weekend warrior when it comes to bow making. Bownarra, I see what you mean with the limb pulling towards me, when I can I'll get a pic like slimbob is saying and that should clear up whether I have my fingers in the right place. I'm going to fall asleep thinking about this for the next few weeks I gotta move to a place that has a garage!

[Jon_W]

Alright, anyone have thoughts on the tiller now? Did some more work, a light toasting on the belly but it will still have set when all is said and done. Hoping to test out this as my first successful bow!

[SLIMBOB]

Looks pretty good to me so far as the top limb goes. Bottom looks to have a hinge 10 inches or so out. Might be something different. Got an unbraced pic?

[Don W]

I'll tell you what helped me (besides the guys here). I started taking pictures like your last ones, but outdoors using the timer on my cell phone. You can bow them up and really inspect the tiller. Sometimes I would even video it shooting, even with the short draw. Shoot the heaviest arrow have. If you're afraid of overdrawing, wrap some painters tape at the draw length your at. Sometimes I could watch the memory go away as I shot. I've gotten to where this is how I do all my final tillering (although I still have a lot to learn). The other thing that helped was a tillering stick. I pull to whatever length I'm at, lay it on the concrete floor in my shop and trace the profile. Then I flip the bow. This tells me if both limbs have the same profile. It doesn't tell me if it's right, but being the same is a start. I suppose even outdoors on the ground or driveway would work. I hope some of this helps

[Jon_W]

Slim, hopefully this clears up that spot on the lower limb (left in picture) as it has some weird curves from a knot that used to be in the heartwood. Don, that's a great idea, thanks!

[SLIMBOB]

If it's just a kink in the limb, then I would say well done.

[scp]

Remarkable improvement. You started with a character stave, with some twist and enough knots and kinks, I would hesitate to use, and pulled it off real well. If it were hickory, I would heat treat the outer 2/5 (not 2/3) of both limbs, reflexing them to get rid of string follow and possible just a little more. But I have no experience with HHB. Probably better ask Marc St Louis, he said "HHB heat-treats extremely well". The issue would be whether the kinks and knots can take the additional stress. All depends on what you want from the bow. How does it shoot?