Tiller

[rkelly]

I have a Howatt Hunter that I really like.
Would like to cut the shelf down and radius the shelf.
How much can I take off before I affect the tiller on the bow?
Or will it matter?

Have a friend who is a "quality" carpenter who will do it for me!

[Ari_Bonn]

You aren't touching the working limb at all so the tiller of the bow itself will not change.   If you mean now that the shelf is lower to your hand as the nocking point will also change from what it was.   I really would not worry too much about it.     Think maybe should get moved to the bowyers bench though.

[Wheels2]

Tiller, like high f.o.c., is one of the things that has become a focal point for guys.  For a very long time no one checked it or cared.

So far as your idea, you are doing the opposite of what would be done with an elevated rest.  I bet that you will just need to lower the nock point and not see much difference

[Wheels2]

If you want more of a hump in the rest, try a piece of furniture pad strip.  You can cut it with a razor into a small trapazoid or even sharper peak

[Boneyard Bowhunter]

Here is my two penny's worth. When you lower the shelf (I always need to for instinctive shooting on a bow) you are putting more stress on the bottom limb. To counter act this you need to make your nock point higher. It can look funny because it is so high but it's what the bow wants.

[hawkeye n pa]

 Generally I just crown leaving the  shelf at original height, if your going to actually lower the shelf take a look at how much wood your taking away from the thin area between the shelf and grip.  I have seen a few bows develop a crack through that area after removing wood.

[Roy from Pa]

Instead of taking the chance of messing up the bow, why not just put a feather rest on it?

[BAK]

     You may not see any difference in dynamics but a slight nock adjustment will fix if you do.