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Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: Brian from GA on December 16, 2019, 04:01:53 AM
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Tillering is my weakpoint. I've made about 6 selfbows at this point. I tend to overshoot the drawweights at times, but the thing that kills me most is that I don't alway see problems coming and I have to work way to hard to stop hinges from getting out of control. I'm hoping this will help me see where I'm off, but I'm not sure th profiles are realistic. This is what I've got so far.
This look ok to you? The outter arc is for 66 inch limbs, inner is for 62, with 64 inbetween. The profile should be suited for 4 inch handle, with 2 inch fades.
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IMO, the guide is good but you can't always go by the guide, at least for a selfbow. Every piece of wood has it's own personality traits which are dictated by density, grain structure, knots, and how the tree spent it's life in general. So you really have to learn to read the wood, while it's a tree (if possible), when it's cut, after it's dried and as you work it. Selfbows are truly an art form that only time and practice can perfect.
I am still a novice in many respects but from everything I read and have experienced; to a degree you only have to worry about the tips of the limbs, are they traveling the same distance at the same time. That said, you still have to watch the limbs for the standard catastrophe warnings such as hinges and the like.
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Im no exspert in tiller but the way I learned was to copy a already tillered bow durning floor tiller I spend a lot of time floor tillering but keep my fades stiff tell the end you can lose a lot of weight taking off to much in the fade areas I work fom tips to fades & catch any hinges early I also divide my working limbs by 4 and use calipers measuring from the crown of the stave at each mark on each limb to keep them symetrical if my patient level drops I stop and come back I always have a clearer picture the next day like I said no exspert bow usauly gets me a non breaking useful bow !
TIllerGuide.pdf