Snowy Day Buildalong - ***UPDATE 12-2014***

[takefive]

Sounds great, John  

[Echatham]

[bigbob2]

looking forward to seeing the bow come to completion.

[John Scifres]

So I started by getting reacquainted with this piece.  It is some pretty dense wood and has nice straight grain.  There are a few gotchas but they are well positioned in the layout.  So I strung it up with a tillering string that is just barely tight.  
       

I have a bit of an alignment issue that I will have to deal with when I cut the final nocks and shape the handle.
     

Here it is pulled to 20" with nothing yet done to it.
       

The inner third is bending nice but I think I need to work from midlimb out on both limbs.

[John Scifres]

Before I do anything, I want to weigh the bow at 20".  My goal for this bow is 45# at 28".  I weigh the bow with a bathroom scale and a stick marked with draw length.
     

It came in just over 40#.

   

So my priorities are to get those outer limbs bending and to get some weight off.

I will start with the rasp and 20 or so strokes from midlimb out.

Here are couple pics that might help out the folks just starting.

At this point in tillering, it helps to keep the bow braced as you work it but that means the string gets in the way of your rasp or scraper.  A short piece of wood to partially draw the bow helps.
   
     

Also, you need something to pad your vise.  Here are some magnetic pads that work well.  I got them at Lowe's.

   

I always found it helpful to support the tip end as you work the limb.  A 4x4 cut to 5" and padded with leather helps here.
   

[John Scifres]

I work with the rasp because I have plenty of weight to remove.  A scraper would take too long.  If you are new, it is probably best to stick with the scraper.
     

Upper Limb.
       

Lower Limb.      

Moving a bit more.
       

I want to get it bending a touch more before making any more decisions.  If you look at the unbraced pic, you can see the almost R/D shape to the limbs.  I have seen this shape start to unwind a bit at longer draws so I am pretty sure the remaining stiffness will even out without much more wood removal.  So I weighed the bow again at 45# at 24".  Here it is drawn to that.

       

That's not bad.  I'm going to give it 10 or so rasps outer limb and then 20 or so full length.

I also got it to brace height.

       

I'd like to get the upper (left) limb bending a touch more and then I can take a bit more weight off.

I'm still using the rasp but with a gentle touch.  Here it is after 10 strokes on the left outer limb and 10 full length.

   

[John Scifres]

Both limbs are stiff in the outer third so I'll give it 10 strokes there.
   

I repeated that and then pulled it to 26"
     

That's OK.  I'm going to move to the scraper for tillering the last 2".

[John Scifres]

Here it is after 10-15 scrapes on the upper limb.

 

I still want a bit more bend in the upper limb.
   

 Maybe a bit more.
   

[John Scifres]

Let's see what she looks like in the hand.

 

Not too bad but lets scrape just a touch more on the outer half of the upper limb.

   

Maybe just a touch more.

   

That's pretty dang close for now.  I'll shoot her some and see how that feels.  Might be New Year's Day before I get back to it though.

[Sockrsblur]

This is really awesome! Thanks for taking the time to post all the photos, your thoughts as well as the tips. It's all much appreciated John... well done.

[takefive]

Looking good, John.

[KellyG]

looks really nice

[Roy from Pa]

Very nice, John..

[David Flanrey]

Thanks for posting John.  Looks like a really good shooter.  

[John Scifres]

I needed to shape the handle and tips a bit before shooting her in.

     

   

   

   

I also flipped the tips with my new heatgun after my 15 year old one bit the dust.  I got this one    Wagner HT3500 .  It's nice because it heats up to 1350 degrees and really does a quick job.  I like it.

Here's the braced profile after shooting her 50 times and touching up the tiller.

   

[John Scifres]

Here she is on the tree.

 

And drawn to 27-1/2" by hand.  I know I am short 1/2" because I marked the arrow I need longer arms  

   

Here she is straight off the string.

   

Here's a little tip for using a bathroom scale.  These are generally calibrated to the higher weights.  It is always best to calibrate instruments to the range being measured.  I do this by placing two 25 pound dumbells on the scale and then calibrating to 50#.

       

Final weight is 46# at 28".

   

I'm going to shoot her a little more today and then tweak the mass at the tips.  I have already scraped her all out and made sure there were no major tool marks. Then I'll finalize everything before I sand her out and add the finish.

[takefive]

Looks great John.  Tiller looks perfect and I love the profile with the flipped tips.  Sweet looking bow.

[Roy from Pa]

Real nice John.

[George Tsoukalas]

Very nice, John. Brings back memories. Jawge

[AkDan]

as usual great stuff John!!!  Always enjoyed your builds!