Tiller-a-long!!! Work In Progress.

[tmccall]

Hey guys.  It's been a long while since I tried my hand at tillering a bow.  

The last 2 that I did were the ones that my kids used during the last couple of years for 3D season.

I've got a new project under way and I'll take all the help I can get.

This is from a Dryad Bow Blank that I acquired from Mike and Jason before their current osage shortage.

I've got it shaped up about as "right and regular" as I can get it and I've been through several cycles of scraping and exercising.

I thought I'd post a few pics now and along the way as I chase tiller on this stick.

So here goes:

 

This is with about 45# of pressure:

 

[tmccall]

This is what I feel pretty certain of right now:

1) Both limbs need to lose a lot of weight.

2) Both limbs are not bending well at about the point where the first black line intersects the limb.  This is also what the Walkie-Talkie is telling me.  This area has seen several scraping sessions but has been slow to improve.  On both limbs there is a bamboo node in this area, exerting its influence on the area.

3) The right limb is a little stiffer than the left.

So that is just about the full extent of what I know.

Do you concur?

Thanks in advance for your help.  

BTW  This is Boo-Backed Osage.

[Jesse Peltan]

Looking pretty good to me. I suggest getting one of the tillering gizmos. The gizmo should tell you everything you need.

[tmccall]

I did some work on my backdrop, it was a bit out of kilter, which threw off the perspective on the limbs.

This is closer to right:

 

[tmccall]

Other than that slight fix I've still got all the same problems as far as I can tell.

I've got to get it bending more in the first half of the limb.

[No-sage]

R/D bows will feel way too heavy, but in reality, they're not that far off.  I'd be wary of removing too much weight.

Get yourself onto a regular string and string it just above the handle for now.  Get the string centered first, then continue tillering.

[TNstickn]

cool back drop.

[Hojo]

Yeah, I like the backdrop, TM.  Did you make it yourself?

[tmccall]

Originally posted by Hojo:
Yeah, I like the backdrop, TM.  Did you make it yourself?

Yep!  You interested?

[kennym]

That is a heck of a tiller board backdrop !! I like it!!

[vanislebowyer]

hi!

do you have different backdrops for bows that have different types of tiller?

[tmccall]

Nope.  I just made that up this afternoon.  It's not matched to tiller.  It's just a series of matching arcs with a grid.

I hope it helps me to see what some of you guys see perfectly fine without it...

[Hojo]

Yes, Tony, I'm interested in the backdrop.  It sure helps make the tiller stand out to my eye.  I think it is pretty ingenious.  Well done.

How's the bow coming along?

[tmccall]

Originally posted by Hojo:
Yes, Tony, I'm interested in the backdrop.  It sure helps make the tiller stand out to my eye.  I think it is pretty ingenious.  Well done.

How's the bow coming along?

I think its getting close to moving to the short string.  However, life is gonna get in the way sooner than I though! I'm going to church camp with my boys next week and I'm pretty much going to be tied up this weekend between packing them (and me) up and tomorrow is Father's Day.

Friday afternoon I'll pick it back up and MAYBE we can ease it into tiller on Friday and Saturday next week.

[tmccall]

Well...   I'm back from camp.  The kids had a great time!

I'm going to get back on this project this week.