Some MOJAM Coaching

Burnsie · July 23, 2025, 11:06:59 PM

I have never been confident in my tillering skills. So I went to MOJAM this past weekend and brought several bows that I had to floor tiller looking for some coaching. Fortunately I met Dave Schneider, and I have to give him a big thank you! He had a lot of people vying for his time (he knows his stuff), but he made time for me, and got me going down the right path. Since I've returned home, I have continued to work on the bow in the evenings after work. I think I'm close to finishing up a bow I am finally satisfied with. Currently it's 47# @ 26" - I'm shooting for 50# @ 28", so I'm not doing anymore scrapes, going to start clean up and finish sanding, I'm hoping that will bring me in pretty close.

Mo_coon-catcher · July 24, 2025, 08:08:06 AM

You've got her looking good. Have you done any test shots yet? Pulling where yo have and how it looks, I would say you're ready to shoot in. I like to get the last bit of tillering done in hand after shaping the handle to make sure it balances out well.

Dave is a great teacher. There has been a lot of folks learn to build a bow out at Mojam under Dave's guidance.

I ended up opting to make some arrows and do some shooting this year as opposed to making any bows. Still managed to break one bow though.

Kyle

Burnsie · July 24, 2025, 08:40:04 AM

Kyle,
No shooting yet, I can get started on that tonight if it's not too blazing hot/humid.
What's your typical "shoot in" process look like?

TB

Mo_coon-catcher · July 24, 2025, 09:48:54 AM

I'll start by just drawing it back infront of my phone camera to make sure the limbs are bending even and the arrow is coming straight back with no handle rocking. If there is, I'll still shoot a few arrows and see how it feels but I'll expect a little handshock or wonky arrow flight. If there is I'll do a few scrapes in the stiff limb and shoot a dozen arrows to get the scraping to register then back to the camera. Repeat until it's bending evenly and it feels nice to shoot.

Kyle

Pat B · July 24, 2025, 11:41:09 AM

100% what Kyle said.

You want to be sure everything is good before you add finishes and you can only do that by shooting it. It may look different in your hand as opposed to the static tree.

Roy from Pa · July 25, 2025, 05:16:32 AM

Looking very nice..

DVSHUNTER · August 11, 2025, 11:15:05 PM

Im glad I got to meet you. You are almost finished with so many bows! You just have to go for it. Im pretty sure you already knew what you needed to do. Im looking forward to seeing the end products!

Burnsie · August 12, 2025, 10:24:09 PM

Quote from: DVSHUNTER on August 11, 2025, 11:15:05 PMIm glad I got to meet you. You are almost finished with so many bows! You just have to go for it. Im pretty sure you already knew what you needed to do. Im looking forward to seeing the end products!

Hey Dave - I was hoping you'd check in and find this thread. Thank you again for your help.
You're somewhat correct, I had a pretty good theoretical idea of how everything was supposed to work, but I think I just needed a little confirmation that I was on the right track. Plus I absolutely hate ruining a good stave or ending up with a 30# bow because of me fumbling through things using trial and error. I've convinced myself not to get attached to a specific stave - it's just a piece of wood - if it breaks or things go sideways I can just start on a new one.