First Board Bow

[Braden Wilson]

I'm new to the forums, but have been reading posts voraciously, and finally decided to post. Working on my very first bow, and wondering about a few things.  I'm going for 45#@28", preferably unbacked, all maple. But it's currently 71" long unbraced.  Is this too long? I could probably shorten it at this point, but should I? I don't want it to be ungainly.

Secondly, when floor tillering, how far do you want it to bend before you put a string on it and do full tillering? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Limbs are 2" wide for half the length, then taper down to about 3/8".

[LESKEN2011]

I am still no expert, though I have made a couple dozen board bows. I would suggest that "length is good" on early bows especially if it has a stiff handle. There is a little more room for error. How tall are you and what is your draw length? The final bow should be comfortable to shoot. I am over 6' so 71 inches is not too long for me to shoot comfortably. If you are much shorter, a really long bow might take some of the fun out of it for you. I have a relatively short draw length so like my bows around 66" with stiff handles and around 60" for bendy handle ones. Depending on the design and wood that may vary some. Hard maple is a good wood to use. I don't have a hard and fast rule for my tillering method. I floor tiller "till I think it is ready" for the long string. Then get it on the tree and go from there. Maybe some of the more experienced guys will chime in with more info for you. It's great fun. Glad to have you!!

[George Tsoukalas]

There a re buildalongs on my site. There is also a board buildalong but it is for a bend in the handle bow.  There's also some info on when to string for the first time. Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/index.html

[John Scifres]

If it's sugar or hard rock maple, you could go shorter, maybe 68" nock to nock.  If it is any other maple, you are at a good length with 71".  It won't be ungainly at either length.

I typically just get a bow bending evenly a few inches on the floor and then move to a tillering tree and long string.

Here's how I tiller:   http://hedgerowselfbows.webs.com/fromblanktobow.htm

[Braden Wilson]

Thanks for the info, I'll be checking out both your websites. As my upper limb is currently longer than the lower limb due to off-centered grip, I may trim it down. I was hoping for the arrow shelf to be about centered between the tips.