hickory board bow advice TILLER HELP

[PEARL DRUMS]

A reflexed bow will be faster most often. Is it better? Thats up to the shooter and builder.

[trentcur]

Cool well I am gna stick with this design till I get her right........ something to be said for being stubborn  

[PEARL DRUMS]

Being stubborn got me where I am as far as bending wood is concerned.

[trentcur]

Ok I need some help/advise on this tiller. never done a RD bow.......... so I am ready to string her up I think, it is sitting right at 50# in this photo. I havent been taking her above my target weight during the tiller process.

So I think I need to stay away from the fades now and just work on getting the bend going in the outer half of the limb.

Also it makes some little creaking sounds...... im really worried that the backing is seperating. I dont see anything under inspection........ does hickory do this while settling in? Little worried......

Please give some advise- thank you!
 

[Art B]

We really need an unbraced side and front profile to accurately judge tiller. Any sound is abnormal.

Fades still squared? Shouldn't be at this point.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Rest easy knowing hickory generally doesnt explode. It just gives way kind of.

[razorback]

Looks like the string is still kinda long. Get it to short brace to give a better idea of tiller shape.

[trentcur]

well never mind......... I strung it up with the short string and she cracked:( a good splinter lifted off of the backing.

So ya......... I am def licking my wounds tonight. I think I am done with board bows. Every time I have ever tried to build one over 40# I have had the backing lift a splinter. I dont know if its because of my rookie status or the quality of my backing material.

I do have a question though Art.... you mentioned the fades. It is my understanding that the bow does not flex/work under the riser, is this incorrect? SO this being said I tillered leaving the handle totally ridgid and cut/tillered all the way to the riser block. So yes the riser was still square.

I have another unbacked hickory all glued up ready to start tillering but dont know if my heart can take another crack    

[trentcur]

by the way would you even recommend unbacked hickory board bow? thanks

[Art B]

First thing you need to do Trentcur is to know what you're dealing with before starting a bow out of hickory. Hickory is one wood that decays quickly, and if not properly processed, is useless as bow wood. Otherwise good for many other projects but not bows.

So do a break test on any hickory scraps before using it for bows. Hickory will take a great bend before breaking. Like Pearly stated, good hickory will just kinda fold instead of breaking clean. If on the other hand, a piece of hickory breaks easily move on. Sooooooo, do the break test.

Fade areas are transitional areas, meaning just that. But even the handle bends to a certain degree also. So what I do is shape my fades and handle, and even cut in a shelf if I'm using one, and have all that near finished befor ever putting any kind of string on. Everthing is considered part of the tiller IMHO.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Your likely concaved backer was probably your killer. The only part of that back working was the part stuck to the core. The rest was along for the ride with zero support, POP goes the weasel. Try the exact same thing again. This time study your wood components and flip the backer or core around until the two mate together nicely. When you glue a back on a bow you shift a serious amount of pressure to the seam.

[trentcur]

Art........ what your saying makes sense. One thing that I did notice on this wood that had me raise an eyebrow was that during the tiller as I scraped away I uncovered some very rough grain....... looked extremely porus and almust even looked like a natural straight crack in the grain.

Another question. How do you all process your backing? I rip mine on the table saw to 1/8 and then sand smooth on the blade side. I understand however that doing it this way does not make it perfectly flat or even. I have been considering purchasing a planer if this would make the step easier.

Many thanks again to you all.

Trent

[Art B]

Belt sander using 50 grit belts.

[trentcur]

Ok I know this answer is probably no....... but here is a pic of the crack/lifted backing. any chance this can be superglued and clamped down??? its on the edge. that being said with the concaved backing and what not it might be better to just send her to the fire pit....... what say you.
 

[Art B]

Try gluing it down and then trap (trapezoidal  shaped) the back real good. Looks like you're still in good shape if you do that.

[trentcur]

AWESOME............. gonna go do it right now ill keep you all updated. Thanks for giving the rook some help!

[trentcur]

Ok so I figured out the problem........... I trapped the back really good and went at it again and kept hearing the ominious very bad little sounds. Finally I just got irritated and pulled it till the sound revealed itself. The tiller looked great but it kept creaking. Sure enought the backing blew out. So I took a look and it appears that the glue joint was not very good from the get go, as said the concaved backer was the killer. BEcause the glue joint failed it put tons of stress on the backing in this area and she gave way.

So the belly wood is fine. So I removed the backing as carefully as possible using a chistle and sander. I am backing with some fiberglass drywall tape. Before backing it pulled 30lbs at 28. So I have the glue drying on the tape. when its done I am going to do one more layer of tape (what you think about doing a second layer???) and then shorten the limbs 2" each side and make it a kids bow.

Will try again for my RD longbow next rotation home:) thanks again for all the help..... better luck next round.

[trentcur]

Ok so I got the drywall (fiberglass) tape glued on and the final tillering done. After removing the backing it took some bellywood in a few spots so I really had to do some tillering, making the weight drop quite a bit.

Anyway this bow will be going to a friend of mine for his 11 yr old. It actually shoots very well and I am happy with it.

THe right limb is a little stiff but I am going to leave it as I dont want to drop any more weight. She sits at [email protected]".

Any observations and constructive critisism is greatly appreciated. Will post finished pics after I finish shooting her in and get her finished. Have about 100arrows through at the moment.
 

[broketooth]

you have to much bend  at the fades. not enough bend through the mid limb area.  you are asking the fade area and the first 10 inches on each limb to do all the work, in your last pic post it looks like the right limb needs some more attention if you look carefully you can also see it in the string angle. you may be able to recover some draw wieght with some carefull scraping and still make your recipient happy. rv

[trentcur]

you think both limbs look stiff mid limb? thanks for the help