Black Locust Question?

[ALW]

I'm working on a black locust bow.  It's 64" tip to tip and right now I have it at 1 3/4" wide to within about 10" of the tips, tapering to 1/2" tips.  I'm shooting for 55-60# at 29"  I've flipped the tips a bit and have left the last 5" of the tips pretty thick.  I've been thinning it today and have it close to 1/2" thick through mid limb and about 9/16" back near the fades.  It's still pulling over 70# and I can't even get a string on it yet.  My question is should I narrow the limbs down to 1 1/2" or narrower?  I'm trying to reduce the set as much as possible by leaving it wider, but I'm afraid I'm going to get the limbs a little too thin.  Sorry for the long post and all the numbers but I'm hoping to have it shooting by the weekend and I'm not sure which route to go.  Thanks for any advice.  Also, the stave is pretty clean with no knots on the back.

Aaron

[Flatstick]

Aaron,,I would leave the limbs as wide as you can especially with black locust. It likes to crysalize or compression crack on the belly side so the wider & thinner limb, in my opinion, would be best. Locust also has a tendancy to drop weight rapidly as you tiller so as you near your target weight be careful and leave it a little heavy.The weight will settle as you shoot it in. Work it slow and check it often.

[Bert Frelink]

NEVER pull your bow past it's target weight even if you are 5 or 6 inches short on the draw length.
Like Flatstick says, go slow and have fun.
Regards, Bert

[Tom Leemans]

If you use faceted tillering, remember that you loose weight through facets B&C and arrive at tiller through facet A. ("A" being the top of your pyramid and "B" & "C" being the sides) Re-establish your facets as you go. Everything can be rounded off later without losing much weight. You don't necessarily need to narrow the limbs.

[ALW]

Thanks for the advice.  Yeah I know, I never usually pull more than 5 to 10 pounds over my intended draw but I got to watching the limbs and before I knew it my scale said 70#.  

The limbs on this one have a rectangular cross section (flat bow) with the corners rounded off.  No facet tiller this time.  I'm waiting to find a piece of osage for that.

Again, thanks for the advice.  I'll have to slow down now and start scraping.  I got in a hurry on the last one and it came in under weight.

Aaron

[Jim now in Kentucky]

If you are at 70# and want 55 to 60, you are way too close to be re-establishing facets. You are within scraping distance, or maybe light rasping. Those last 10 to 15 pounds are where the bow is made or turns into a kid's bow. GO SLOW.

[ALW]

Right now it hit 70# and still isn't far enough along to even get a string on it.  But I know I have to slow it down now.  I got in a hurry on the last one and and it came in under weight.  Thanks for the advice.

Aaron

[ALW]

Well I slowed it down and started on it with the scraper.  I've got it to where I think I can get a string on it at about a 4" brace height.  It should be in the 55-60# range when I get it braced.  Did a little tweaking to get the tip straightened out.  Hopefully this one holds together.  Thanks again for the advice.

Aaron

[chucker]

at this point , don't worry about bracing. Use a tillering (long) string to pick out strong points and scrape. IMO

[ALW]

Chucker, I've been long stringing it up to this point.  I'm not too good at floor tillering so I use the long string as soon as it starts to show any bend.  The last couple I made I think I used the long string on too long, and by the time I got them strung and finished tillering them, they came in under weight.  I don't have the best set up to work on bows but I do the best I can.  But again, thanks for the pointers.  I still have a lot to learn.

Aaron