Just received my new $1050.00 longbow from a well known Bowyer in Montana, beautiful bow, however after bracing it and shooting it, I noticed that the tiller was reversed. I called the Bowyer on it, and he said that if I send it back to him he will just sand the back and belly of the top limb to bring it in to tiller. He said it was a five minute fix. I stated to him that everything I have ever been told was that this was a big no no.... He stated that that was not the case, that since the glass is .050 that there was plenty of room to fix the error.. I packaged it up and have sent it back, however I'm just sick about the whole deal. Any suggestions would be helpful...

What do you mean by reversed?

How did you notice? Did it shoot poorly?

My suggestion is to not get too wrapped around the axle about it.  It is a thousand dollar bow, and you have every right to expect a bow built to your specs, but let the man fix his mistake.  If, at that time, it doesn't meet your expectations, take it from there.  95% of the bowyers out there are absolutely stand up fellas and I am sure he will fix it, make you a new one, or refund your money.  

That said, I am a bit confused as well by what you mean by "reversed tiller."  Whether you shoot split or Apache style, five minutes of shooting a new bow isn't going to show up in a huge way.  In reality, the apex of the bowstring when pulled back is still very nearly in the same spot, it is a very subtle difference.

Sorry if there is some confusion here. The tiller of a bow should show that the bottom limb is the stronger limb or at least the same as the top limb, depending on if you shoot a split finger, or 3 under.. This bow shows the bottom limb measument of 1/4" more than the top, when measured from the fadeout to the string when braced.

AH I see...cut the riser upside down I bet after tillering the bow.

Sanding fiberglass is alright, look at the old bears and you can tell many hade the same thickness of laminations and the fiberglass was sanded way down to achieve lighter wieght.  Many are still being shot after being around for 50+ years.  Plus I sand the galss on every bow I build to one extreme or another.

-Mike

He told you right,sanding the glass is the right way to adjust tiller.It was mentioned the bow most likely was tillered and then cut upside down.  The only problem is you will drop the bow weight when the glass is sanded.It maybe a few pounds due to the fact he has to adjust about 1/2" of tiller now to give you 1/4".Dont worry though,im sure the bowyer will make it right even if its another bow made to your specs.Keep us posted.

Well said Brandon.
It will be fine.

I have received a bow like that before.  Kind of hard to swallow at $1050.  If you can't live with the bowyers option you will have to tell them so.  No sense having a bow you hate for the rest of your life.  If the bow is indeed as you describe, that is a major error on the bowyers part. The bowyer owes you complete satifaction.  You will have to be the judge.

Had a new bow come with slight limb twist.  When drawn back the string would come out of the bottom limb groove and when let down would lay beside the groove.  I was really bummed because the bow is beautiful and I did not want to have a whole new bow made.  Spoke with the bowyer and he was extreamly appologetic and said he would be able to fix it for sure.  Well, other than a little time inconvenience, the bow was returned working perfectly.  I am sure it will all be fine for you as well.
I say this just so you know it happens and is corrected - keep the faith, trad archery is the one arena where I feel there is a much greater percentage of stand-up people in business than almost any other.  At least this is what I have found to be true.
Bob Urban

I would drive to Montana and sit out front of his house until he fixes it,no matter how long it takes!    

I don't know that (IMO) you could ask for or expect more from this unfortunate mistake.

Since when are bowyers held to a standard that says they aren't allowed to make a mistake?

It would appear that as mistake was made, you caught it and he is willing to make it right.

I am sure both of you would just as soon this hadn't happened, but it looks like it did and an attempt to make it right is being made.

I am sorry both of you are having to go through this difficulty. It could be an opportunity to get to know your bowyer as a real person.

God bless,Mudd

I had this happen on a 3 piece takedown bow. The bowyer mailed me a new set of limbs right away.

Don't know who the bowyer is, but I will tell a positive story:

I had Herb Meland make me another set of limbs for my beloved 3-pc Pronghorn. He had me send the riser so he could refinish it. Time seemed a little long, so I called him. He said, "OH, I sent that out today"
When I got it, he had refinished my original riser, and sent me a completely new bow with a letter explaining he had modified the new risers, and the limbs didn't fit the old one, so I GOT A COMPLETELY NEW PRONGHORN FOR THE PRICE OF THE LIMBS. That's customer service.

I have a Bob Lee longbow with the same problem, I contacted them and explained that if I reversed the limbs then the tiller was fine, they offered to remove the marking on the limbs and refinish them for $75. Forget it!! I get some strange looks when going to 3D shoots, people keep telling me that I have the limbs on upside down, I explain that I am not going to pay for the companys mistake!

he could have sent you a lefty (assuming your a righty) sounds a little too busy to me, bummer. I have had a mishap on a custom bow order - 4 months I waited, I think that was the hardest part, took me a while to like the bow but it is  now my current favorite

Snufer, I gotta say that if Bob Lee told me that they'd have one less customer for life.  If they made a mistake it is their responsibility to fix it for free.  I've dealt with companies before (not trad companies) who have screwed up and wanted me to pay for their mistake.  Doesn't go over very well with me.

I make them here and there.  I did a repair recently on a guy's black widow, a relimb and when I was getting the draw weight right I didn't realize my scale was reading nearly 2# light. It was off calibration.  So I got it back to fix.  Just last week I sent a customer a recurve when she ordered a longbow.  I jumped on that and the 2 passed each other in the postal system a few days later.

Flip side; last Christmas morning I had an angry customer call me up and say I made his son's longbow left handed when it should have been right handed.  I apologized profusely, we ended the call, I nearly had an emotional break down. The he calls back and says it's alright; grampa had it strung backwards.  It still really messed up my day.

Nobody's perfect I guess.

-Mike

I had a problem with a bow recently as well. I contacted the bowyer and sent pics of my limbs to show the problem. He told me to send the bow back and if it was not repairable he would make another. It turns out the bottom limb was too stiff. He sanded the bottom limb and refinished the entire bow. Awesome customer service and I will be buying another bow from him! Give your bowyer some time and I'm sure he can correct the mistake just like mine did.