Tillering question

[critter69]

Making a three piece glass bow. When tillering do you pull from center, or where arrow nock will be (1 1/4")above center? Ive made afew but dont remember how I did it.Thanks for the help

[Pat B]

I pull from the center. Once the bow is finished you can adjust the nock point setting but usually it will be slightly above the center.
  The way the bow looks on the tiller tree will be different from the way it looks pulled by hand because the tiller tree is rigid and your hand self adjusts to the pressure exerted on it.

[Steve B.]

I pull from where the arrow nock will be, roughly.  I definately notice a difference in tiller when I do so.

[Roy from Pa]

I used to pull from center but I recently switched to where the middle finger of the drawing hand will be on the string, according to a 3/8th high nock set above the arrow shelf. Pulling from dead center compared to where I do now makes a big difference in how the limbs react on the tree.

[Bowjunkie]

Good idea, Roy    Yes it does make a big difference. And the way we have our tillering trees set up, we can tiller any style bow to shoot an arrow perfectly with any bow hand or string hand holds.

That's how I do it. I pull from where the center of my middle finger will be on the string with the nock point 3/8" above the shelf. That way, I need to make no adjustments with my bow hand(allowing the bow to tilt one way or the other) or by moving the nock point around in an attempt to mask built-in porpoising. When the bow is done, I set the nock point 3/8" above the shelf and never have to move it... unless it moves due to string stretch.. then I put it right back to 3/8".  The bow is balanced, coming straight back into the hand without the slightest tipping, from the beginning of the draw to the end. The bow is designed and tillered to shoot arrows perfectly each and every time with the shooting style for which it was tillered.

No offense meant to anyone... I know a lot of folks do it... but it makes no sense to me to precisely tiller a bow by pulling it on the tree completely differently than I'll be pulling it by hand, then fight it in the final stages of tiller, trying to guess while drawing by hand how much to 'fix it', or fight it afterwards to shoot well every shot with an unnatural and unpredictable bow hand fulcrum points... or try to mask the bow's inherent flaws by jacking the nock point up or down. No thanks.

If the bow hand must 'give', or self-adjust because the tiller is unbalanced, then the limbs aren't timed and the bow isn't as efficient as it could be, will have more handshock than it would otherwise, and arrow flight isn't as inherently straight and consistant as it could be... IMO.

[vanillabear?]

[vanillabear?]

[Steve B.]

Hey, whatever works for each person is all that matters.  It should be obvious to anyone looking whether a bow tillered to center on a tree looks the same when drawn by the shooter.  Sometimes there is little difference and the bow shoots fine.  Sometimes there is more difference, however, and I promise that the bow will shoot smoother if you fix it.

I make all my bows with the upper limb at least an inch longer than the lower and tiller by pulling the string from above center and I've found a more even tiller, visually, and a smoother shooting bow.

[George Tsoukalas]

critter, I think some people missed that you were making a glass bow. I've never made one so I don;t know what they do but I think most pull from center. That's how I do my sefies. Jawge