Serviceberry Semi-Gullwing bow

[dwardo]

I guess this mean's i've been ripping you guys off with the weight of my bows. Really sorry about that, not trying to lie, that's just what my scale's been telling me  . Im glad that i can try building way heavier bows now tho.

I dont think that mate and no-one here does. As PD says its all about communication via the web. We dont have the luxury of being able to see each others work in the flesh which is a real shame and pictures only say so much.
For instance if you had a faulty ruler (long stretch i know) we would all be wondering why you can make a bow that's only 30" long that draws to 30" When we need a bow much longer to achieve similar results.

A good set of accurate scales can help you know when your bow is starting to take set way before your eyes see it in the unbraced profile.
For poor saps like me who have never seen another bowyers product in real life the help that this place gives me is invaluable.

So what are you working on now? 

[Weylin]

I had a bathroom scale for a while and it was giving me wildly inaccurate readings on my bows. I bought a nice 100# spring scale on amazon for $25 and it's made a huge difference in my bow making and is very helpful on the tillering tree. (just remember to factor in the weight of the hanging scale) I agree with PD, I don't think you are intentionally trying to decieve anyone but he's right in that we all have an obligation to do our best to post accurate results because people are learning from us whether we realize it or not.

[Zion]

Thanks guys, i'm gonna buy a spring scale that goes up to like 180# (just in case i feel ambitious  .)

Nope randman but my dad told me a long time ago that a guy at work told him that Ocean Spray is what the natives used to use around me. So i learned how to identify it and made my first couple of bows out of it. They still shoot today, (5 years later) which goes to show how strong the stuff is...

[JeremiahVires]

Dude, you could tiller phone poles if you wanted to.

[kleinpm]

I bought a digital hanging scale off eBay for about 8 bucks including shipping. It works great. It has two hooks so it made using a pulley system really easy, and safe,

I had a bow blow once when I was still using a tillering tree with grooves that the string goes into. That was the last time I used it.

Patrick

[Zion]

Thanks guys. I've got a good scale now so that's good. Yeah i only use a tillering tree if the bow i'm working on is really heavy or really wonky or something.

[bow101]

Mmmmm based on my findings, my bathroom scale shows about 4-6 pounds less than actual weight comparing to the health ones that use the sliding weights. How do I know,?  by weighing myself...

[bubbles]

Since you seem to have a lot of weights Zion, , attach 90# to the string (i use a strong bag filled with dumbells) and hang a tape measure from the handle. Pull up, do it slow so there is NO bounce. If the bag lifts at 24", you're golden.  Obviously don't pull it past your draw, just adjust the weights in the bag to get that string back to 24".  Not the greatest method, but I don't have a good tillering tree setup and pulling down on the bathroom scale seemed really sketchy to me.

[Zion]

yeah i've heard of that technique before, but as i said before i now have a good fish scale which i can easily weigh my bows with, so i'm just gonna stick to that. I have about 140 lbs to deal with so if the scale breaks i will try that.

[adb]

So, with your new scale, what does this bow have for draw weight?

[Buffalogobbler]

Awesome bow!
I really love the primitive look and the knot in the handle.

Kevin

[Zion]

Adb i measured it a while back but i believe it was between 75# and 80# (with the good scale). So decent but not as much as the crappy scale said.
 
Thanks Buffalo, this is still one of my favorite shooters.
 

[Joec123able]

Adb i measured it a while back but i believe it was between 75# and 80# (with the good scale). So decent but not as much as the crappy scale said.
 
Thanks Buffalo, this is still one of my favorite shooters.

Still pretty heavy I can't shoot a bow that heavy comfortably at all. between 50-60 pounds is my comfort zone and where I try to keep all of my bows at