Linen Backed Red Oak. Tiller Check and finishing.....

[Dictionary]

This is my first board bow. This is really my first bow in general. The previous ones i can just call...........tillering practice haha. Anyways, here i am. It is linen backed red oak. I will just say, i dont like backings on bows and i dont like board bows. This is all i have to work with right now though.I love D Bows. I find them to be the most practical type of bow to make and shoot.

Currently: 40#@18 inches. 60 inches long, 58 nock to nock. Aiming for 40@28. I like 40 pound bows. They are very practical as well. My method to tillering is this: Take wood away from stiff spots, leave the ones that bend too much alone. Sound familiar? I think its the essence to bow making haha. I prefer longer bows as they are easier to make and easier to shoot.It developed a hinge in the outer right limb but i think i fixed it......Tell me what you think about the tiller. As i look at it, the limb on the left looks a bit stiff near the tip area. But.....the last 3 inches of both limbs are stiff and dont bend. For D-bows, it is difficult for me to tell how much bend i should give the outer limbs.

[Cameroo]

The bow doesn't appear to be centered in that last pic, so I don't think you're seeing it's true tiller.

[NTProf]

I like longer, D-bows also. Everytime I try another design I always gravitate back to longer d-tillered bows.

[bubby]

The bow doesn't appear to be centered in that last pic, so I don't think you're seeing it's true tiller.

i'm with cam here, just wondering why dont ya like board bows? Bub

[blackhawk]

Devils advocate says what if he s building an assymetrical bow? Not all bows handles are at true center ya know 

[Cameroo]

Devils advocate says what if he s building an assymetrical bow? Not all bows handles are at true center ya know 

True dat!  I guess I assumed that it was symmetrical because it didn't look to be off-center in the first pictures, but after closer inspection, it is But still, that might be an accident.  Just throwin it out there... 

[lesken2011]

I'm with Cam and Bub about the boards. I've had great success with them. Less so with red oak, but the tropical woods, white oak, and osage have worked out great. Your tiller seems to be coming along nicely, so far. I probably should have tried some bendy handles with the red oak.

[Dictionary]

The bow doesn't appear to be centered in that last pic, so I don't think you're seeing it's true tiller.

hmmm......I marked the handle area then began taking off wood at the handle and forgot where the handle was    . I dont think it is that far off center though.


I just dont like working with boards. They are very practical for multiple reasons(no waiting to season it, less wood removal, typicallly dont have to follow a ring) but id rather work with a genuine peice of wood i went out and cut myself. I find tillering dbows to be easy because there are no fades, but at the same time, it is can be easy to get the handle bending too much or not enough......Getting the correct circular tiller can sometimes be difficult for me.

[Cameroo]

I dont think it is that far off center though.

It might not look like much, but remember that if it's an inch off-center, that makes one limb 2 inches longer than the other.  If it's 2 inches off center, then one limb is 4 inches longer! You see where I'm going with this?  It's not a big deal if that's what you're going for, but it doesn't sound like it is.  Just make sure you center the bow on the shelf at the same place your hand is going to end up while shooting, and that should get you pretty close.  For symmetrical bows, I like to leave the lower limb about 1/4 to 1/2" stiffer at full draw, I think it helps a little with reducing hand shock (probably even more-so for a bendy-handled bow).

Your tiller is looking pretty good, I'm not trying to criticize it.  I'm just pointing out where I think you could improve.

[Dictionary]

I got ya Cameroo. I recentered the bow and the tiller appeared a bit different when i did. Corrected now.

40#@20 inches right now. Soon finished.

I have a general question.

After rasping wood away, about how many times do you guys exercise the limbs so that it will actually show more bend from the area you took wood away? I pull on the string about 20 times to about 35# and then pull to 40# after removing wood. Sound good?

[Cameroo]

Sounds good to me.  Think of it as an added bonus to tillering a bow - you get a little workout in between scraping sessions  

One other tip - If you want to be "bang on" with your tiller, I would highly recommend making yourself a "tillering gizmo".  You may have heard of them, but if not look here: http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=001047 .  They are perfect for that style of bow, and they are super easy to make.

Happy scraping! 

[Dictionary]

I thought about making the gizmo, but i prefer to do without. Anyhow, it is about 40#@26 or 27inches. Im scraping the rasp marks away with a knife to get it to 40#@28. It took a bit more set than id like and it stacks a bit more than id like as well. I dont think i will make a bow this short again. Only 66 inches and up for me from now on. Final Tiller pics tomorrow.


Any shortcuts to clean up the linen backing? It is a mess. Only thing i can think of is scissors.....

I dont know what i will do for a finish or a handle.

[dwardo]

Never used linnen my self but with silk I use a fine grade sandpaper on a block and sand from back to belly one direction. Seems to leave a nice clean edge. Keep the paper fresh and clean.