New guys first bow-harsh criticism please

[Don Case]

Hi All
I live on Vancouver Island. I'm 67 and this is the first bow I've made since I was about 12. Somewhere in the last few years I picked up a fascination with Ocean Spray so I cut a couple of staves? from the bush out back and stood them in a corner of the garage for a year or two. My granddaughter recently took up archery so last camping trip I took one of the staves with us and started whacking on it with a hatchet. It is incredibly hard. Anyway here is a picture of my progress. The bow is short-50" NTN. In the picture it is drawn to 14 1/2" and my fishing scale says 26#. I'm a bit leery about where to go next. My gut says to thin the tips but I'm not sure. To my old eyes the sides look pretty even. So this is why I joined this group. Could I get some advice? Be brutal- I'm thick-skinned.
Thanks
Don

PS Thin end is to the left and now that I've posted it, it doesn't look that even

[George Tsoukalas]

Don, the tips look a bit stiff but it is hard to say without seeing the unstrung bow. What draw length do you want?
Jawge

[Zion]

You don't need to get the tips that thin to make a good shooter with OS. If you can get them NARROW without letting them bend too much or let them warp off to the side do it. If you slowly perfect the tiller you can get that bow to at least 23" of draw. OS is seriously tough stuff.

[Don Case]

I'm not sure of the draw length but it should be about 24-25". Zion says max 23" so maybe I'll shoot for that. It's got about 1 1/2" of set but I didn't measure it when I started. It's looking like this bow will be to short for my granddaughter so I will just use it as a learning stick. I was thinking about a final DW of about 25# so I have a lot of wood to remove. As I was tillering and flexing the bow the bark cracked and flaked off the back of the thin end in a couple or three spots. The wood looks fine but I'm wondering if I'm pushing too hard? How do you decide whether to take wood off the belly or the sides?
Thanks again
Don

[half eye]

From a guy that's the same age, I make my major adjustments with belly tillering, and very fine "tweeks" with side tillering. A single scrape on the belly is worth 8 on the sides. ....."twice as wide is twice as strong.....twice as thick is 8 times as strong"..... Your Bow looks good to me, especially since you have plenty of wood to finish "shaping" your bend.
rich

[crooketarrow]

  The type of wood with the lenth of the bow uselly determs how wide I make my limbs. I shape the limb and get them straight before I tiller and never touch the sides again. I know some people do trim the sides if they get the even tiller early. And are afraid  to lose it. But shaveing the sides down this but exture stress on your limbs.
  Keep takeing the wood from the belly ,tillering untill you get the right lenth and right draw weight . This takes akes stress off your limbs the closer you get to where you want to be.
 With the tips I make mine as small,narrow  and as light as I can with out them beening the last 4 inchs..
  Your bow looks perty good the right limb beens a little more than the left.
  Juyst tiller it back to where your granddaughter can shot it. Just becuausw ZOIN SAYS MAX IS 23 DOS'NT MAKE IT SO. I'VE MAKE 50 INCH BOWS DRAWING26,27 AND AS FAR AS 28 INCHS.
  WHO IS ZOIN ANYWAY

[Don Case]

   WHO IS ZOIN ANYWAY

Second reply to my post and http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=35142.0

If I can do anywhere near this I will be a happy camper
Don

[Josh B]

   WHO IS ZOIN ANYWAY

Zion is a young fella that lives out in the PNW that not only has OS around his area, but has actually used the wood to good effect.  He didn't say 23" max, he said at least 23".  Big difference. 
For just getting back into it, that's looking pretty good Sir!  I would guess that would easily make 25" if you get the handle workin just a bit.  Josh

[Don Case]

if you get the handle workin just a bit.  Josh

Would you mind giving me a little more detail on "get the handle workin just a bit"? Should I make the handle a little smaller? shorter? a little shorter on the fades? Keep in mind I've never done this before.
Thanks
Don

[Joec123able]

if you get the handle workin just a bit.  Josh

Would you mind giving me a little more detail on "get the handle workin just a bit"? Should I make the handle a little smaller? shorter? a little shorter on the fades? Keep in mind I've never done this before.
Thanks
Don

He means to get the handle bending with the rest of the bow this will give you a longer draw then having a stiff handle

[Don Case]

So I would take a little off the belly of the handle?

[Josh B]

Sure, what I mean by that is make the handle a working part of the bow.  I usually wait until the last couple of inches of intended draw length and then start removing wood from the belly of the handle.  For instance, if the intended draw length is 25", I would tiller the bow to 23" and then start gradually removing wood from the belly of the handle area.  You really don't want the handle bending as much as the limbs because this is the worst possible place for set. Ideally, you should just start to feel the handle bend at about 23" of draw.  Even with that slight of a bend in the handle, it will go along way towards relieving the stress of the entire bow.  This will help considerably in getting the longer draw without excessive set.  Josh

[dbb]

How long is the handle? If its more than the hand and arrowpass you could always move the fades in a bit and gain a little"working limb".
Just be careful about the right limb just out of the fade,its a bit softer there and its easy to get a hinge in that area.
I see Gun Doc beat me to it

[Don Case]

The handle is 5" and the fades are about 4".
Don

[Zion]

Whoa guys, i said AT LEAST 23" i never said it was impossible to get it to 24-25," i know what Os can do, so calm your horses, and crooketarrow next time read my comment thoroughly before saying something that isn't even true please.