and she bends......updated on the short string

[AkDan]

ok....a little more bending pics...looks like the tips are getting closer...

But the left limb at the fades looks a tad stiff?

I keep looking at this pic and notice the flat spot on the outer third on the right limb right where that pin knot shoots acrossed....do I plug it?  or do I try and shave through it first?    

[AkDan]

wanted to ask, if the  pulley string as I pull down on the pulley moves off to one side..I'd assume thats the heavy side, if everything is square?

and my pull is dead..it's a 100lb pulley but a piece of crap..good idear needs a better set of bearings in it and less slop to keep from binding. ugg

[shamus]

But the left limb at the fades looks a tad stiff?  

yes.. but a hair stiff. Go slow. 10-20 passes with the scraper, then check the tiller. C-r-a-w-l towards it.

it's come a long way since the first picture. You're getting close to it.

[dutchwarbow]

ah that's way better AkDan!!

tiller looks good enough to me. Better get her braced before she comes in underweigh or becomes whiptillered!

Nick

[AkDan]

well...gotta pack for my trip home...thanks for the help so far...hopefully I'm not to much of a pain in the arse  :D .   I'll started all over again when i get back on the 24th with filing the string grooves and getting the short string on.

[Shaun]

The last picture looks pretty good. If you imagine a line between the tips in that pic you will see that you have reached "brace height". So you are ready to put a short string on it. This will tell you a lot and is called "first brace". Hold the bow out at arm's length and turn it so you can see the braced profile. Do not pull it farther! Post a picture of this braced profile and we can help you see what it needs next. The two axioms for self bows are "never pull past where you (or we) can see a flaw" and "never pull past finished draw weight".

I would not worry about the knot area near the tip. There is very little force that far out on the limb. Leave it alone and maybe a little thick there till near the end of the process.

[Shaun]

Dan, on another thread you were asking about the bow rolling in the cradle of your tiller tree. Once you have it on a short string, that is braced, it will not try to roll on you.

[AkDan]

Shaun,

This one is rolling when I'm pulling down on the pulley to the long string.  I'll remember that though.  Make's sense on the short string.

Hey how far is iowa city into iowa?  I'm headed to Mn tomorrow.  One of these years I'm going to stop by Roger Marconi's place...never seems to be in the cards though and this fall is already pretty packed with family and friends I'll be lucky just to hunt a few hours in the mornings. ugg....

[AkDan]

ok...so the string grooves are filed got a short string on...how does things look?  To me the left looks stiff from the fades through mid limb and bending to much the last 6-8"es or so?   Right ?!?!  not so sure.  

ps sorry for the bad pic...it's 4am and I'm still up LOL!  got a new vcr and had to watch Deans vid again, it's been quite awhile!

[Pat B]

Even though the left limb looks a bit stiff it is hard to actually tell until you draw the bow. How far have you drawn the bow so far?  Bring it out to that point and take another pic for us.  How is the string tracking at brace? You can tell a lot about allingment at brace but need full draw pic to see how the final tiller worked out.
  Work your way out slowly and give the limbs plenty of exercise after each wood removal.

[AkDan]

Pat....

sorry was up way to late last nite playing with the bow.  

As for string tracking..it's really close.  My timber hitch isnt so great on the one end so I'm not 100% that the string is straight but it is quite close, might need a small adjustment.  Going to make a double loop string for it or a dynaflight single loop string.  

I havent drawn it past this point at all.

[AkDan]

I am curiuos why Dean T advocates tillering this style of bow at brace....and the hole homogenious thing kinda trips me up there lol.

I retract that last statement I have drawn it past this on the longstring.  The last photo is as far as I've gone on the short string.   Been a rough couple of nites.   Plan on working on it more tomorrow.

[Pat B]

The long string is only for early bending. After about 6" or 8" of tip movement on a long string the results get distorted. I go to a short string at that point.
 Dean has done a lot for wood bow building but I do some things different from Dean. With self bows the staves can be too irregular to make brace measurements for positive or negative tiller. I never bother with that when I build bows. I do pay attention to string tracking at first brace. Generally at that point you have enough "meat" in the bow to make those corrections without overshooting final draw weight.  Full draw is where it matters to me. If your bow is well tillered at full draw it is well tillered at brace. That being said...I'm going opposite from most others by trying to see how simple I can make it and still be effective and ethical for hunting.

[Art B]

Like Pat, I use a long string very little in the tillering process. I go to the short string quickly and to full brace. From there I "feel" the bow into final tiller because I use a tapering method and only have to reduce weight.

Like Pat stated, full draw tiller is what you want. But the one thing I've noticed is after I set my tiller at full draw my bows are usually positive tillered between 1/8" to 3/16". Guess its the way I grip my bows. I use a medium grip.

ART B