Tillering Tree Question

[Honest Jon]

When tillering a bow (selfbow in my case), what do you use as the fulcrum point in the handle section of the bow.  I lower the center point of the handle about 1-1.5 inches below the center point of the overall bow length. Should the tillering rope pull directly down from the center of the established handle, the center of the bow length ....or somewhere else.
Jon

[WhistlingBadger]

I usually put my hook on the string and inch or two above center, approximately where the arrow nock is going to sit.  That said, I've tillered bows from the center of the handle, and they worked out OK, so it probably isn't worth worrying about too much.  Just makes a little more sense to me to put it where the arrow is going to be.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I start the tiller centered on the handle and middle if the string so pressures are balance to start an even bend. Once I get to about 6” shoot full draw I shift to center of the handle for a pressure point and there I intend my middle finger to be when drawing an arrow. The last couple inches I tiller in hand infront of a camera to see how it acts when drawn by hand.the last one you can do by feel and not need a camera but the camera makes it easier.

Kyle

[Pat B]

On my bows, the center of the handle is the center of the bow and I center the handle on the tiller tree. When I get near full draw I make sure the bottom limb is slightly stiffer than the top limb.

[willi]

what do you use as the fulcrum point in the handle section of the bow.

not anything that has so much contact that the bow cannot be free to tip side to side and not anything so pointy that the bow is hard to keep from tipping erratically
a soft leather or cork pad about an inch wide? (placement as per mo-coons advice)

I also have a small loop of string a couple of inches long that I can hitch to the tillering string that serves as a place to hook my pullrope. the hitched loop can slide on the tiller string with effort, but does not move without effort.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

His picture shows well how I attach the bow to the tree. I use a loop of rope and a caribiner to clip to the scale.

Kyle

[Pat B]

That's a good, non-static method, Kyle but the true view of the full draw tiller is on a hand held bow. That is a reason most of us like to see the back profile, the unbraced, the braced and the full draw hand held pics. The way the shooter holds the bow at full draw is the true picture of the full drawn bow...for that shooter.

[WhistlingBadger]

His picture shows well how I attach the bow to the tree. I use a loop of rope and a caribiner to clip to the scale.

Kyle

Interesting setup, Kyle.  It's almost the opposite of mine, which supports the bow with a wooden stand underneath and has the scale on the pull rope.  I might like your way better.  You have me thinking...

[Mo_coon-catcher]

After using both ways there are a couple distinctions. With the fixed scale you have to accommodate the scales movement into the draw length. Which is why I can slide and move the yard stick. Lower poundage scales move more for the same draw weight but the heavier scales are harder to fine tune your poundage. Once the bow is hooked up to the scale I pull the bow itself to my intended poundage and see where the back of the bow ends up and move the yard stick there. But the scale is always in one spot for easy reference and if the bow snaps the scale doesn’t go flying to the ground.

Kyle

[Kirkll]

I don't mess with self bows much, but here is a couple photos of my tiller tree. i mounted the bow mount section on the wall with 6 heavy duty wood screws. Then i have pieces of rubber that are flat or rounded . I typically tiller my limbs before the riser block is shaped.  like this

but i use the rounded piece for shaped risers.

When i built my tiller tree it was years ago when i was doing a lot of prototype work and running DFC charts on the different designs. So i kind of went off the deep end here and built a section below the bow mount with a track and put a light in it... if you look real close you can see the holes in the black plastic that are spaced exactly 1 inch apart. There is another hole in the string hook block that the light shines through as you crank the bow down . that hook is shaped like fingers would hold the string.

here is the whole set up.

 

I mounted a boat wench on a wood pedestal and use a pulley at the bottom.  I can use this with tje bracket hook, or just clip it to the string with a carbiner.

[Bowjunkie]

You can dynamically balance a bow quite well with the bow set solid and level by whatever means, then place the hook on the string where the center of your string hand fulcrum would be. For me, it's just below the middle of my middle finger.

That precise spot can be found with a few measurements taken from the edge of the bow cradle/handle/shelf location to locate the nock on the string(I set my arrow 1/8" above perpendicular to the shelf), then from there measure the thickness of the arrow nock, half the width of your middle finger, or whatever your deal is. Take your time and make sure this is all as accurate as possible. Then at that spot, your actual string fulcrum, draw a vertical plumb line on the wall under the tree to articulate perfect fulcrum travel straight down the wall.

If a bow's limbs are balanced relative to your hold on the string, the hook will follow the line down the wall exactly. If one limb is acting stronger than the other, relative to your hold, the hook will drift toward the stronger limb. It's easy to see just a tiny imbalance. Weaken it until the hook follows the line. When the hook follows the line to full draw, you're done. Balanced bow. You'll love how it shoots.

If you want to find exactly where the bow hand fulcrum is or attempt to move it one way or the other, you can set the bow up to pivot at the handle. I have this capability, and like to play with it, but honestly it's not necessary. The above method works great and makes for a fine shooting bow every time.

I've never tillered a bow by drawing from the center of the handle or center of the bow because it never made sense to me to tiller the bow while drawing the string from one spot, only to shoot it while drawing it from somewhere else.

[Stagmitis]

Hey Bowjunkie good to see you chime in:) Its a strange beast to tame but I have always been intrigued by your method- Last order of business in my shop is to set up a new tiller tree- Based on the photo would you support the grip with a 2 3/4" flat spot?

[Bowjunkie]

I haven't done it that way but assume it would work fine. Since your static point of balance(bow center) and dynamic point of balance/fulcrum under the bow hand will both be within that 2-3/4" area the entire time, the bow should sit still on the tree while you tiller and balance limb strength.

If you understand that, and the line/balance method, hopefully you can see how it wouldn't matter if you supported that flat grip with a 2-3/4" flat cradle or a full 4" flat cradle to hold it. You're going to get the same feedback from the bow and tillering tree, and get the same final result in limb balance.

Make sure your handle area(not necessarily bow tips) is level in the tree cradle, your string fulcrum location accurately represents the center of your pressure on the string, and the line on the wall that represents its perpendicular movement down and away from the handle is plumb. Good to go.