Just a few questions.

[Squirrelslayer]

ok i just have a few questions about a bow im making. ok to start i have roughed out the bow into a bow like shape but the limbs are about 1 1/8" thick so how thick should they be when starting to tiller?
can anyone give a brief or lengthy discription on tillering using a tillering stick, not the pully methord. all i know is you need to excersise the limbs about 30-50 times and take wood away where there are stiff spots.

that leads me onto my next question, what is the best way to remove wood? rasp/ cabinate scraper/ sandpaper?

thats all for now but im sure ill have some more questions further into the build this is really only my third bow build and the other one i had help from someone. thanks in advance. SS

[bushboy]

How long,how wide @ the fades,dbow or flat,stiff,bendy,wood species,target weight,draw lenth ect...?

[hunterbob]

I make mine 1/2 inch at the fades tapering to 3/8 at the tip just to get started. i use a draw knife to take most of the meat off then go to rasp and then scraper and then sand paper. I use a shinto rasp after the draw knife to get it floor tillered

[Squirrelslayer]

well  at the fades it's about 1 1/2 - 2", it dosent taper but about 6" from the end fades into some static tips. i want it to have a flat belly not a D-shape. it will be a stiff handle if all goes to plan. the bow is 63" long but has a 5" handle. im not sure what wood species? some kind of pine. (i know pine is a bad wood but i want to give it a chance) target weight is low at arround 30# @28" thats what im shooting for and hope it goes to plan

[PEARL DRUMS]

Thats your Christmas tree. You really need to find another piece of something to work on. You cant build a bow from a Christmas tree covered in hundreds of limbs and knots, not even 30 @ 28. There must be wheel borrow handles? Pitch fork handles? Rake handles? Saplings of any kind? Any of these would be head and shoulders above your Chistmas tree.

[Will H]

Hmm... I'm gonna let somebody else get into this with you but my advise is where a helmet and some safety glasses.

[DarkSoul]

im not sure what wood species? some kind of pine.

Nine out of ten failures with beginners making their first bows, are because of either inproper grain selection or poor choice of wood species. Why not increase your chance of success tenfold by getting a proven bowwood, rather then risking chances?

[Squirrelslayer]

im not sure what wood species? some kind of pine.

Nine out of ten failures with beginners making their first bows, are because of either inproper grain selection or poor choice of wood species. Why not increase your chance of success tenfold by getting a proven bowwood, rather then risking chances?

im just testing whats possible and if it makes a bow then great! if not then oh well go to a propper wood

[Weylin]

I find it a bit frustrating when people ask for advice,  then discount all the advice that's given and say "I'm just experimenting." Because of the wood you've selected the only reasonable advice any of us can give you is to find a different piece of wood. There are no dimensions that we can give you or tools that you can use to turn that piece of wood into a safe and functional bow. There are people who have done some legitimate and valuable experimenting in bowmaking and have produced results that surprised many people and changed how bows were made. But those people weren't making their first bow and they were building off of a wealth of knowledge as their foundation and they were making clear decisions about which variables they were playing with. I don't mean to be insulting to you but I feel like the way you're approaching this is ultimately a bit insulting to all of us who you are soliciting for advice and then ignoring. There are decades of combined experience here telling you that what you are doing isn't remotely safe or reasonable. My advice is that you listen to them.

[Josh B]

Lol! What Weylin said!  Seriously though, about the only experience your going to get from that Christmas tree is how to blow up a piece of wood.  You will get plenty of experience with that using good wood.  I still blow em up pretty regularly.  Give yourself the best chance you can and start with as good of materials as you possibly can.  You will still have plenty enough challenge learning the basics well enough to make a bow from the good  stuff.  Your current approach is alot like trying to make ice cream from horse manure.  Actually, its worse than that, because without the basics, you're trying to make the horse Apple ice cream without ice!  After you get a good working knowledge and some good bows made, then is the time to experiment with sub par woods if you so desire.  That experimentation now is only holding you back from making your first successful bow.  Think about it.  Josh

[PatM]

When you had help with one of the other bows you built, did you listen and learn?

[bushboy]

Ok,starting dimentions should be 3-1/2 @ fades and 7 feet long!

[H Rhodes]

Squirrelslayer, the guys who have already posted on this thread are some of the most knowledgeable wood bow builders around - they aren't gonna steer you wrong. 

[Newindian]

Nice thing about getting into a sport that's been around for more than a thousand years is there isn't much experimenting left to do

[Squirrelslayer]

When you had help with one of the other bows you built, did you listen and learn?

yes i did listen and learn someone from my archery club came down and helped me out with the bow but he no longer goes to my club. SS