floor tillering

[walkabout]

working on my hickory bow, had a question about floor tillering. how much bend do you generally look for before you move to the long string? i usually get it moving 4 inches, but am not sure if this is enough.

[George Tsoukalas]

About that and then I cut the nicks and go to the long string. Jawge

[walkabout]

thanks for the reply. this stave is definitly giving me a run for my money being my first hickory selfbow, and im also using a caul i just built. got another stave ill be working on soon too that will have some great character. both were harvested in pennsylvania where i grew up, and one even had a shotgun BB under the bark from one of our many hunting trips there. might have some red oak staves soon too, as my grandparents are having a huge red oak cut down that is probably two hundred years old, its base is so big around that it would take 3 people with outstretched arms to go around. im excited to be working with wood that has such sentiment to me.

[Steve B.]

On my hickory bow I was hoping for a hunting weight bow.  When I got done floor tillering the bow was already down to 50 lbs. or less. by the time I finished it was down to 40ish.  
So apparently I was being to gingerly with my floor tiller pressure and thinking it was still way too heavy.
I won't make that mistake again.  Although, I have a great kids or beginners bow now.

[walkabout]

yea its great the flubs we manage. 40# isnt too bad though, still legal to hunt with in alot of places.

[John Scifres]

For me, floor tillering just tells me the stave is bending some and that there aren't any major issues.  A big key is getting the layout right in the first place.  And then careful initial cutout follows that.

[walkabout]

i made my first few bows without floor tillering at all, then after that just started floor tillering to get the limbs moving slightly so i didnt have so much work to do on long string.

[George Tsoukalas]

Aren't y'all going to ask what "nicks" are? LOL.    Jawge

[DVSHUNTER]

jawge, we were just letting it slide as a bit of bowtimers ;-)

[walkabout]

lol i got used to reading typos, as im very guilty of it myself sometimes. got the bow i posted this question about on the caul and reflexed a bit, started tillering it today. one limb took more reflex at the tip than the other, so its definitly testing my patience to keep the limbs moving evenly. string is tracking off the left side of the handle too, but i left my tips wide so i can take care of that later, as well as thinning them to deal with handshock. been really humid here lately though so im wondering how well hickory is going to hold up. ill post pics as soon as i find my camera.