What would you do? . . . DONE . . . Meet Eve:)

[Elktracker]

Man I think you have been handling his stave like a pro, I wouldnt have been worried about that pin knot either but I guess that shows that you never really know. I think any of the glues you mentioned will work fine for a fix, I like to use the real liquidy type super glue as it penatrates deep into the cracks and then you can clamp it untill it drys. as far as a wrap I think you would probably be fine without one if you get good glue coverage in there but others may disagree
If you take bevan up on his offer I would think the Goat rawhide would work great, nice offer Bevan!
good luck and here is the glue I use for wind cracks or stuff like this where you want the glue to really get deep into the small cracks, its also Strunk approved


Josh

[k-hat]

Josh:  Thanks for the glue advice.  I went and picked up some of the runnier superglue like what you described and it seems to have done the trick.  Made a bit of a mess with it, but i can clean it up.  I'm still gonna back it and probly wrap the beginning and ending areas of the splinter just to be sure. 

Bevan:  That's awfully kind of you, and i may just have to take you up on it!  I have some silk i was intending to use, but i hear that rawhide is even tougher.  Maybe we can work out some kind of trade.  I had an end in mind as to how this one was going to finish out, and i just need to think about the changes i'll need to make using the rawhide instead of the silk.  I'll send you a pm later today.  Thanks again bro for the awesome offer.

[k-hat]

The splintered limb is holding up nicely, did a little mild tillering this morning.  There's only about 1/8" difference in the gap at midlimb, may leave as is and go on and start working both limbs, after I back it of course.



It looks like that curved tip isn't wanting to bend when i pull short on it, but i'm thinking it may open up more as full draw approaches?

The taper right now is only at about 1/16" from end of fade to the recurve.  It's the mildest taper i've done so far.

[PEARL DRUMS]

That looks pretty decent now. Try pulling it farther to get a better look.

[coaster500]

Great job, stay with it!!

You're getting real close

[k-hat]

Thanks guys, i'm liking the way it's looking.  I'm waiting on some rawhide from Bevan, couldn't pass up his offer

Until the rawhide arrives, i'm gonna keep it gentle and try to get'r as well tillered as i can with a short draw, then finish out after i get the rawhide on.  Both limbs now have potential trouble spots that have me wincing each time a draw.   

I'm estimating at least a week of dry time from what i've read, guess i'll start shaving on the next stave in the mean time

[k-hat]

I'm kinda perplexed with this one. . .

So i kept working that recurvy limb until the brace profile was almost symmetrical.  Then i put'r back on the tiller block to see how she looks.  When drawing, it's evident that the OTHER limb is stiffer.  The bow actually rocks clockwise, causing even more bend in the recurve limb and less in the other.  "So" i sez to myself, "weaken that other limb a little."  Well, then the brace profile gets all outta whack again.   

So here's what I'm thinking.  I'm not gonna get a symmetrical brace out of this baby, mainly due to the way that non-recurve end is reflexes out of the handle.  It's actually set forward quite a bit more than the other. So i'm still tryna figure out the next step.  Here are the options as i see them:

1) leave it asymmetrical and get the limbs bending evenly, perhaps shaping the belly of the handle to compensate, or

2) i just forgot, how bout you fill in the blank? _____________________________________

Would recurving the other tip alleviate the problem??  Maybe i should make it the top limb.

Either way, I DO think i need to get the outer thirds bending more in both limbs. 

HELP!!

Here's pics and a video.  You can see the rocking that's going on . . .




http://s1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd374/k-hat/?action=view&current=120124_001.mp4

[Elktracker]

Ya she is rockin aint she, might make for a little hand shock when your shooting

Josh

[PEARL DRUMS]

Pull it that far by hand and I bet it feels balanaced if you use the left limb as your lower. Using trees too far into a tiller job is like using a long string to far into a tiller job. Thats just my own opinion. Once the tiller is good regardless of draw weight or length, I pull it by hand to that length after each wood removal. It always amazes me how a bow so unbalanced on a tree can feel so good drawn by hand.

[toomanyknots]

So i kept working that recurvy limb until the brace profile was almost symmetrical.  Then i put'r back on the tiller block to see how she looks.  When drawing, it's evident that the OTHER limb is stiffer.  The bow actually rocks clockwise, causing even more bend in the recurve limb and less in the other.  "So" i sez to myself, "weaken that other limb a little."  Well, then the brace profile gets all outta whack again.   

I have been there sooo many times! I think it is better to get it pulling or "working" evenly then what it looks like, I couldn't say what you should do in this situation though. I usually get it even :"looking", then weaken the overly strong limb till it feels even.

[k-hat]

yeah, i was tryna get the tiller evend up at the current draw before i finished it in the hand, then saw this happening, so i was kinda stumpd. 

I'll work it some more in the morning and see what happens.  She's learnin me somthin good I tell ya!  I'll never see this craft the same again!!

[Marc St Louis]

With a character stave like that you can't go by how it looks.  You have to go by how it feels in your hand as you draw it back.  That is one of the reasons I don't like T trees

[k-hat]

Thanks Marc for chiming in!  Thanks Pearl for hangin with me on this one.  I did a little work this morning and she feels good in the hand whichever limb is the bottom.  Put a couple of arrows through both ways and can't tell a significant difference.  Looked in the mirror also as i drew to 17".  Here's what i see:

*the higher i brace it, the more balanced the tiller looks at brace and draw
*the non-recurved limb is thicker, but the rings i notice are thinner (4 rings per 1/4" vs the other end at 3 per 1/4")
*in all cases, it is evident that the thinner recurved limb is bending much more than the other, so it seems the non-recurved is actually the stiffer limb (which leads me to think adding any reflex to the tip would make things worse)

Should the recurved limb need to be thinner since it actually has to bend much more than the other from unbraced to drawn profile?  Seems right in my mind, but y'all know better.

If that is not the case, I'm thinking that it'd be ok to remove some material from the other limb, which previously made the string slope MORE at low brace, but it will even up at full brace?

I'm not going to draw any further than the current 17" until i get the rawhide on, so i won't be able to check some of these thoughts until then (not removing any wood until i can verify that it needs it). 

Hope I'm not being too big of a pain in the butt on this, appreciate so much y'alls help!!!

[gstoneberg]

I believe you're experiencing what prompted some of us to say we'd have evened out those limbs at the start.   I think it's cool that you're working through it, and you're going to learn a ton, but it's a tough row to hoe.  Fortunately, you have the best character bow builders around helping you.  Good luck.

George

[George Tsoukalas]

I agree with Marc and don't think that you have to good a good and even brace height. After you take the stave down from the t tree give it several short pulls to see how the limbs feel. Try to sense uneven balance..sometimes the handle pressure helps. Jawge