HH straight bow build... Finished!!

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

John-
   The tip is really bad only about an inch from the end. If I shorten it an inch on each I think that I will have no problem. I think  you are right about having plenty of width still. A shorter bow for me I would really like because I hunt with these bows and just makes it easier to shoot. I will shorten it an inch and then get a picture up for you to see. I am going to get the other limb roughed out and then hope to start puting the tip overlays on. Now I assume you do not feather them in like you would on a BBO bow. Measure where I want the string grooves and then just rough the glass up with 50 grit or a hacksaw blade?

I would love to see this thing bend before the end of the week. I really want to take this out hunting for turkey.

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

Oh also since I am shortening it up an inch should I push the transition back an inch from paralell of the limb to the tip. If that makes sense.

[jsweka]

Justin - When you say "feather" are you talking cutting an angle down through the glass and laminations?  Don't do that.  Here's a pic of one of mine with the tip overlays glued on and the string grooves cut, but not finished.

 

DO blend in the front of the tip overlays into the glass.

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

Ok that's what I figured.... I gut the tips back Nd it is fine again...no issues

[kennym]

Lookin good Justin! Listen to John, he builds a fine Hill style.

Pay no attention to the retirded guy, he is just jealous he ain't building hi tech glass powered  real bows....        

Jus kiddin Roy!!  :D

[Roy from Pa]

You girls kin make all dem glass bows yunzs want:) I like looken at them and sometimes I like shooten them. Dat's all I'm sayen:) Cept wood rocks...

[jsweka]

Roy - I did say I was toying with the idea of a selfbow.  The one thing that gives me second thoughts is that I have a 50% success rate on wood bows (one good Dryad BBO blank, one light weight HBI, and two HBIs that broke while tillering), but a 100% success rate on glass bows.

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

Well finally got the bow to roughed out and got some side nocks notched out. And we have her bending. I have to work on the tiller some and narrow down the limbs... She is a bit heavy. I just tried to put her on the scale and I am at 50# at 21 inches. I draw to 28 so we got some weight to remove.

Hey john think that i should try bringing her down to 1 1/8 width instead of the 1 1/4 inch. I measured the deapest part of the bends and both are at 6 inches right now.

Can you guys give me some advice on how to tiller this thing. Should I measure each inch of the string and then compare each sides when it bends or do I just look at the stiff spots and get rid of them. I don't have my trusty gizmo to assist me with this so I need some help from you guys.

 

Don't pay attention to the back of the tailgate for a reference. That vice gizmo will lean to whatever side it wants because of the weight so it isn't level

thanks guys... getting really excited

[Roy from Pa]

I thought the left rear spring was squatting from all that weight.    

Bow looks real nice, Justin.

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

lol my truck aint that bad roy lol... wait till she gets lifted and ridin on 35... then maybe that lil vice wont make it bottom out.

thanks for the compliment on my bow!

[jsweka]

Justin - This ain't a wood bow and won't take set or break like a wood bow.  It will take a little bit of set, but you'll only notice it if you sight down the edge of the limbs.  You could draw that sucker back to 28" if you wanted to.  I'll bet it's around 70#.  What was your intended draw weight again?  I'd start narrowing the limbs a little bit at a time and rechecking the draw weight.  

Most of the time I really don't need to do much if any tillering other than cutting the limbs to width.  When I do need to do some adjusting, I'll measure from the tips of the fadeouts to the string and also lay the strung bow on a bench like you have it positioned on your pic and measure from my bench to the string grooves.  Another good option is to trace one of limbs, flip the bow over and trace the other limb.  This will tell you which is stiffer and where it's stiffer.  And of course, just eyeball it.  I'll also use a tillering stick to check when it's drawn to about 18". (Not sure why 18", that's just what Binghams said to do in one of their videos).

Your limbs look to be bending evenly, so I'd just start narrowing to reduce weight and adjust as you go if needed.

[Roy from Pa]

Not that I know anything about glass bows, but trapping the back would reduce weight too. With glass bows and the man made materials they are built from, there should be no flat spots, unless your form is not perfect. So I would either trap it out, and or narrow each limb equally. And check your form for uniformity.

And why is the distance so great from your string grooves to the end of the limb tips? That looks stupid...  

[jsweka]

Yes.  Trapping is another option, but it's a little more difficult than just reducing the limb width.

Another thing to remember is that the bow will lose about 3 pounds simply by rounding over the edges of the limbs.

Just like an old retired guy...worrying about the little things.  There's plenty of time to purty up the limb tips.  I tend to leave mine long too and cut them to shape after everything else is shaped up.

[Roy from Pa]

You glass boys crack me up. Ya glue em up and cut em out and that's it. Heck even a kid could do that:) I mean look at Ole Kenny M, he makes em too...  

[jsweka]

As much as I hate to admit it,     Roy, you are somewhat correct.  I'm as mechanically dis-inclined as a person can get and I still manage to make shootable bows.

[bigbob2]

             sunds like me!

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

Ok jsweka-
  When I get home from work in the morning and after scouting for turkeys of course I will place it on the tillering tree and draw that sucker back to 28 and see what the poundage is. I would like to shoot for the 55# range =/- is ok. I think that it will look a little better if I got to 1 1/8 inch and narrower tips.

Roy- I have an inch benhind the string so that i can shape the tips when I am ready. Don't make me come down and put a whoopin on your old retired rear...LOL

[Roy from Pa]

LOL come on down, Boy:)

[Dan Bonner]

Helluva job you are doing there! But your wood bow building background is slowing you down. Tillering a glass bow takes me about 20 minutes. Just draw it on the scale to 28" (it won't break, promise). Evenly narrow the width of the limbs to about 5 # over intended draw weight.  Measure from the fades to the belly while the bow is strung on each end. Make the longer measurement your top limb.  Narrow the stiff limbs sides (not belly) until you have whatever positive tiller measurement you want ( I shoot split so I like +1/8".) round the edges and finish sand and you should be +- 2#. Done! Don't make this stuff tougher than it needs to be. Don't tell anyone but glass bows are dead easy...that's why I build them. Your are gonna love your new bow!

Bonner

[kennym]

Nicely said Mr Bonner!