First selfbow

[bwhntrjsh]

Hello all long time reader first time poster.  I am just finishing up my first selfbow (Osage 66") and had a couple quick questions.
Do I need to pull the crook out of this limb for the bow to shoot well? Its predominately in the last 12".  
 
Also is a 6" brace height about right with a string three inches shorter?
 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, how  does that tiller look to u?  
 

 

Pics of shaving horse and string jig, half the fun  has been making the tools

 

 

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Wow! I can't help with any advice, but I do admire your endeavour, and should like to try it someday. All the best with it.

[brettlandon]

Tiller looks good, I tend to leave the character in the bow, but with osage you have the opportunity to correct nearly everything with a good heat gun.  As long as the string runs down the center of the bow, you're good to go.  Nice job Josh, your carpentery skills are well shown.        

-Brett

[bwhntrjsh]

Thanx for the kind words, that was my debate the string runs off to the left and i thought since i shot right handed it might work (less archers paradox and weaker spined arrows) but I think its gonna have to get pulled in.

[Dave Bulla]

Good job so far!

Looks to my eye that in the third picture, the limb on the left has a bit of a hinge about 1/3 of the way out from the riser and then it looks stiffer from there out.

The next picture looks like you flipped it over to show the other side view and so the right side gives the same impression.  The other limb looks REAL nice.

In the brace hight pic, it looks like there is a natural "wow" or squiggle in the limb on the right and that seems to be about where the drawn pic's look a bit off.  I'm certainly no expert but my gut instinct would be to take some material off the outer 2/3 of that limb with a scraper and see what happens but don't do that before you get some advice from somebody who knows more than I do.  I've only built a couple and not all of them have survived.....

[Osagetree]

Love your bow horse! Looks primitive........

Maybe I would scrape some more on the outer 2/3rds of the right limb in the second pic & thin out the limb tips a bit. They need not be any thicker than the thinest part of your limbs. With those rings I would go 3 rings thick and about 3/8" wide @ the tips.

More mass on the limbs lessens limb recovery speed and reduces performance.

How many pounds are you pulling?

[Eric Krewson]

Make yourself one of these and check your tiller.

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=033419

Way to much bending near the handle, left limb has some serious tillering issues.

[bwhntrjsh]

THANKS FOR THE HELP.  The opportunity to have all of the input and information is remarkable.  I have spent countless hours reading all of the great info here.  
Osagetree - the horse is a pine log I cut down last year and split in half and chopped up with my chainsaws, I really like it. The design is from the guys at mystic, they were at the kalamazoo expo (I learned a ton of info there).
The bow is pulling 51lb at 26" now, but im not sure what is gonna be right for me.  Just switched over from the space aged archery and love every minute of TA.  Im thinking 55lb at 28" should do me well, very comfortable with 70 on my diamond.

[NorthShoreLB]

That bow horse is great !!

[bwhntrjsh]

Thanks for all of the input I did take some heat to the limb and got the string to track straight.
 
 
Also final sanded an reached 52lbs. at 28" it took a  slight set even though I did not pull it past final weight.
 
Tiller probably could have been better but Im pretty happy with it being my first, lots of improvements on the upcoming bows.
 
All done with this one, other than a coat of finish with some test arrows I just built.
 
Thanks again for all of the helpful info its been pretty cool to get the input.

[Matt Stuckey]

That's great inspiration.  I've got two leaning against the wall, one of which will become my first.

[John Scifres]

In case you haven't added that finish yet, I think you need a bit more tiller work.  Green means go, read means no.
 

Your right limb bends more than the left and too much in the center.  I don't like using a tiller stick at elast for full draw.  It causes undue set.

Have fun.

[Dave Bulla]

There ya go!

Trust Johns eyes.  He's made a ton of great bows.

It's already better than it was in the first pictures and you may be satisfied with it but I'm willing to bet that Johns marks will help ya get her dialed in great.  Just go slow and easy with a scraper and give things time to register with lots of test pulls.

It can be a tedious pain in the butt, but your bow will perform better and last longer if you take the extra time now to get it as perfect as you possibly can.

Again, congratulations!  That isn't a bad piece of wood but there are certainly pieces that would have been easier for a first try.

[bwhntrjsh]

thank you again I wish I would have realized not pulling full length on the tiller tree the bow has taken a pretty good set,probably around 3" of string follow.  I did shoot it last night and today and had a riot, so much fun to fling arrows and surprisingly accurate.
Is it possible to heat it and reflex it slightly to get rid of the string follow?
This site rocks with all the experience i have gained with this first bow.

[Osagetree]

I like it, just like it is!!!! Good job!!!

[John Scifres]

Nah, just shoot it and build another.  You'll never make the perfect bow...but sure is fun trying.

[brettlandon]

Concerning string follow, IMHO as long as it does not exceed brace height, It only limits how flat the bow can be stored unstrung.  Nice first bow there!

-Brett