Long Tiller String

[Burnsie]

Osage self bow
Long tiller string - how long are we talking?
Drooping down a ways?  Just a bit longer than nock to nock?
At what point do you switch to a short/normal string -what are you looking for that says its ready to brace?

[Honest Jon]

Burnsie
I’m sure there are different methods that work well for others but my initial tiller string will be 3-4” longer than nock length. I will use that length until I can pull to about a 4” imaginery brace height…never going over your final target draw weight. At that point, I’ll shorten the tiller string to about nock length or slightly shorter. Work with that until you safely get to a brace of about 7” (close to final brace) without going over draw weight target. While the bow is on the tiller tree, measure the string length that will yield that approximate 7” brace. Then finish tillering and shooting in the bow. Adjust final brace based on arrow flight. Did I mention, don’t go over target draw weight at any point in the process? No better way to produce unwanted set and potentially over-stress the back and over-compress the belly.
Honest Jon

[Burnsie]

Thanks Jon

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I start with the long string just hooking into the nicks without having to flex the limbs and start increasing the brace height as I drop weight and can brace it higher and higher until I reach full brace.

Kyle

[Mad Max]

Yep what they said
just long enough to get the string on without bending.
You want the tips to be bending towards each other like it would be braced, to long of a string is just pulling the tips down. false readings 

[Pat B]

What Mark said.   

[Burnsie]

Thanks Guys!
So are there any rules of thumb you can use that will indicate whether you are on track as you are bending/tillering your tips toward brace height?
Example: When I'm shooting for a 50# bow I'm usually looking for the scale to read about 32# when I'm bending the limbs to about
6-7".  It will be close to 50# by the time it is tillered/bent to full draw.
I made up those numbers, but was wondering for those that have a lot of bows under their belt, are there numbers/weights you can roughly shoot for at different stages while working through the process.

[Honest Jon]

I suggest looking at draw weight versus draw length rather than limb distance moved. I wish I had a formula to follow but don’t. As an example, if your target is 50#
@ 28”  and you’re 42# at say 24”, you’re probably getting close. That assumes you’ll gain about 2# per additional inch of draw. That may not be perfectly accurate but if you write down your draw weights at various draw lengths, you’ll soon get a feel for where you’re at as you approach finished weight and draw. The trick is to keep the limbs bending relatively evenly through the whole process.
Have fun!
Jon

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Just pull to the weight you’re aiming for unless you see the tiller is out of whack. For all practical purposes there is no difference in draw weight with a long vs short string. If it pulls 50# at 22” with one it’ll pull the same with the other. The difference is the bend profile. The shorter string will shift the bend out on the limbs. So if your long string tiller looks how you want your final tiller to look, then you brace it with a short string, the bow will now be slightly while tillered. This is why you go to full brace as early as you can. I like to when I get the bow pulling to about half full draw length. Or when I can brace the bow with push pull bracing method.

Make sense?

Kyle

[Pat B]

I have a para cord tiller string with a bowyer's knot on both ends. I use it for the first 3"-4" of tip movement then move to a tiller string that is just as long as the bow with a loop for the top limb and bowyer's knot on the bottom. As soon as I can get to a low, 3" brace height I don't use a tiller string but build the permanent string for the bow. All of my strings have a knot on the bottom and loop on the top. This helps prestretch the permanent B-55 string and once I'm sure the string has fully stretched and have come to full draw and put shots through the bow I tie off the tag end at the bowyers knot.