Updated: Finished Hickory Pyramid

[Vgo750]

After MUCH generous advice from yall, I was able to get the string mostly centered.
   

And be on my way tillering.  I am currently at [email protected] all the shadows, sorry.
   

I think my draw length is 27 at most right now so I am not going to tiller for any longer draw.  I do want some more bend in the fades though...especially on the left...just a lil.  I took about 50 shots with a short draw last night...    :D  ...at short draw she already shoots way harder than my previous successfull bow.  Thanks to Bowjunkie's advice, I am doing my final tillering to resemble how I draw in hand in regards to grip placement and where I would grab string.  One limb is not pulling the string off center when drawn on tree so that is great.
5 1/2" brace
   

Immediately unstrung I have 1.25" of set...after a nights rest I have just under 1".  I'm going to shave a bit more off both fades...then final sand and try to end up around 52/53@27 after shooting in.

I hope I didnt just jinx myself with this post...as last time i posted up a bow in making it blew.  If this one makes it 100% complete, im going to name her "Redemption"     :p    I appreciate all criticism and Thanks for looking! Yall have a good day.

[Pat B]

Your bow looks pretty good. You could probably reduce the tip width a little to about 3/8". It looks like you have plenty of thickness to support the narrower tips and it won't affect the draw weight at all.

[LittleBen]

I second what Pat said. It's not critical but light weight tips make for a more efficient bow. You'd be suprised how narrow tips can be and still be totally safe.

[clemson2fan]

Pat is this something that could be done with an oak board bow too? Mine looks similar to his.

By the way Vgo that's a fine looking bow you have there.

[Vgo750]

Took about 50 more shots at full draw and 6" brace with 650gr ash spine test kit...probably my inexperience but it seemed like all 4 of the different spine weights(40-60) shot similarly from 10 yards? I guess i was just expecting a bigger difference. Compared to my 400gr carbons all of the woodies shot much much better...no wobbling or pourposing...once again a surprise...but a good surprise!  As far as narrowing the tips, how far from the tip yall think i should start narrowing? 6inches or so?

[LittleBen]

It's hard to say exactly where to start narrowing without seeing the bow ... prolly 6" or so. But if you wanna keep it really safe, just narrow the tips from wherever it looks visibly thicker back to belly if that makes sense.

And Clemson2fan, you can also do this with red oak board bows. Once again, you'd really be suprised how narrow you can make the bows tips and still have them be strong enough. I've seen some of the guys especially on PA and other forums that are mainly wood bows, where the tips are the width of a pencil. I built a white oak backed ipe you can search for on the bowyers bench that shows photos of very narrowed tips.

VGO, tiller looks really good. Nice job. I think you're really gooing to enjoy that one.

[Vgo750]

Update:
I have thinned the tips, finished the handle shape, rounded all edges, final sand, stained the bow, 3 coat poly sealed the bow, and shot it about 150 more times...    :D  .
   

As I am, thus far, extremely happy with everything about this bow....and my last bow blew...I have named her 'Redemption' lol.
   
She ended up 55@28 and shoots the crap out of a 650gr ash arrow.
   
   

I am probably going to put a leather wrap around the handle with a small shelf in it...and maybe another coat of poly before I take her hunting this fall but other than.....DONE!  Thanks to everybody that helps in this forum, me and all noobs are so very appreciative of yall's help.  I now have 2 good shooting pyramids....so now I am already starting to think about my next bow being a reflex/deflex.  I want to start bending some wood     and should be coming across some osage shortly.  Thanks for looking, all tips and critiques are welcomes

[LittleBen]

Looks like it really turned out well. You did a nice job thinning the tips, looks like they stayed nice and stiff as shown int he full draw. Overall really great looking tiller.

As an aside, I notice the handle is a little rough around the corners (i.e. shows some tool marks). I'm gonna tell you a little secret, some of the bows I make for myself, even after having made dozens, are very roughly finished, just enough to feel ok in the hand. As long as the back doesn't have tool marks and is well sanded you're fine. I've had a few where I didn't even take the tool/rough sanding marks out of the belly I just doused them in spar varnish.

[John Scifres]

Nice!

[takefive]

Congrats on your bow; looking good    
Roy has posted a couple R/D build alongs recently that are definitely worth checking out.

[TimBoA]

Nice job!

[razorback]

Nice job on that. Can you tell us the length width and what is the thickness of the limb. I'm working on one right now and am curious to see these dimensions.

[TroutGuide]

Very nice.  I need to give hickory a try again soon. But I have Osage and your going to love it once you get some.

[Vgo750]

sure thing razorback...length is 66", width is 2 1/4" at fades down to just over 3/8" at the tips, limb thickness is ~7/16" +/-1/16" in some spots.  For thickness I pretty much got both limbs down to just under 1/2" and then just went by bend instead of measurements.  Hope this helps!  Hickory was a great experience, I def see myself working with it again...but not for a while as I just picked me up SOME OSAAAAAAAAAAAGE!         cut me a beautiful fat ringed straight as an arrow 6' osage tree trunk this weekend.  About 8" in diameter.  Really excited to start on it next season.

[Buemaker]

Nice bow. Bue--.