Just about done tillering my newest (3rd) RO board...with pics

[redboard]

Here she is, 69 NTN pulling about 35 at 30 . Took about 2" of set.
Once I get the left limb worked out, I'm thinking I'll pike it, back it with boo or hic'ry and slightly reflex the last 8 or so inches...anything to get it to hunting weight.

Or I could just make another'n

The pics are of it braced with a spare 65" string, about 7" or so, and at 30" on the tiller stick.

[BOWMAN53]

your left limb is only bending right out of the fade, get the mid to outer bending more. and the right could use a few more scrapes in the outer limb.

[redboard]

Yeah, I saw the left limb issue when I snapped that photo this morning. But the right has some issues too? I guess thats what practice is for

Thanks for the extra eyes!

[Slackbunny]

Threads like this are very helpful, not just to the OP but to all the amateurs like me. Its great practice to look at a picture of a bow that you have no preconceived notions about, make your own judgments and then compare it to what others are seeing.

Thanks all around.

[DarkSoul]

69" NTN and drawing to 30" is already really pushing it. Chalk this one up as a learning experience and enjoy the 35# (or let a friend, nephew or neighbor enjoy that low weight when they're over at your place). There's no legitimate way to increase this bow's poundage to 50# or so. Start the next one at 72" and take your time tillering it. Patience is the way to go, if you want a good tiller and high draw weight.

[redboard]

So its too short? Bummer. I kinda like em a bit shorter, of course I should use something other than Oak if I want a shorter/heavier bow yes?

Well, I think I'll experiment with some stuff on this one, namely backing with local Boo...just to see what happens

In the meantime, I'll get started on my Japanese Ligustrum bow.

[huisme]

I'm not completely sure it's too short. I have a 51^1/2" bendy handle pulling fifty five at twenty six, although that was from an excellent BL stave and you're working with RO boards. Add 18^1/2" to the length and that's what you're working with but then you've got to subtract handle and fades.

[redboard]

handle and fades are 8", that leaves me with 61" of working wood, which I'm assuming isn't enough for a heavy oak bow...Osage or Hickory sure...but not oak?

[Bogaman]

As far as your remark about getting it to hunting weight. Most native american bows were 30-40 lbs. That weight is good enough to kill most small game and killed many of our forefathers.
The older I get the more a 30 lb. appeals to me. Hittin the right spot is the key anyway!

[mikekeswick]

I'd advise you use this one as a learning tool now. Get the tiller perfect and whatever weight it comes out at is what it is.
If you want a shorter bow then you can make the limbs wider. If I wanted say a red oak 66 ntn bow 50#@28 then I would start around 2 inches wide at the fades. The simplest design for you would be a pyramid tapering to 1/2 at the nocks. The only thing to watch out for with pyramids is that they don't bed too much out of the fades.
Red oak will make a great bow   but one of the main reasons it takes set is that it is much stronger in tension than it is in compression. If you sawed those limbs in half on a bandsaw then the back would spring straight and the belly half would actually show more set. I've done this a few times with tension strong woods.  So the way to sort this problem is to trap the back eg. make it narrower than the belly. Somewhere around a 1/4 to a 1/3 narrower. This evens out the forces in the wood.

[redboard]

Thanks for all the great advice
I'm gonna stick to the plan on this one... finish tillering, add some reflex to the tips, toast the belly, add a backing of some sort, then shoot it till it breaks!

The truth is, I like a heavier bow. I'm a big dude, 6' 280lbs (think Justin Smith for any Niner fans) and 30# just feels like a toy in my meaty paws. So whatever the draw on this one turns out to be, I can already tell its light for my personal taste. It'll be a fun bow for sure and any tillering practice is well worth it.

I'll put up some more pics when she's done, maybe of me shooting it so y'all can marvel at my massive shoulders, awe-inspiring-Shiner-gut, and ample rear-end

[Onebowonder]

Thanks for all the great advice
I'm gonna stick to the plan on this one... finish tillering, add some reflex to the tips, toast the belly, add a backing of some sort, then shoot it till it breaks!<snip>

Redboard - I'm affraid that the idea of adding a super tension strong backing like bamboo is going in the exact opposite direction of what this bow is just crying out for.  Being as it is Red Oak, which is prone to compression issues anyway, and it has already taken 2 inches of set, I'm fairly certain that your issue with this particular bow is compression failure risk.  With Red Oak you want to do some combination of the following: trap the back, leave extra width, and/or lam it up with a compression strong belly wood and use the RO for tension wood on the back.

Backing this bow with boo is a pretty certain way to have it fold over, ...and prehaps pretty dramatically!

OneBow (...who has come to both love and HATE red oak as a bow wood due to a series of few humbling failures with it!)

[toomanyknots]

Yeah, the left limb is in danger of breaking right where it is hinging off the handle. That is a very common place for a bow to break. Next time, I would leave more meat for the fades if you can, and tiller the limb to bend through out it's entire length. I second that red oak likes to be wide. A wide pyramid design is a good design for a red oak board bow.

[redboard]

Still haven't been able to get into the shop to finish tillering this one y'all. I promise to add some more pictures when its bending correctly and presentable.

[redboard]

well...I guess I could post a pic of my shattered dreams But I didn't take any. This one broke on about the 8th shot. Oh well, y'all told me so
This one I'm going to chalk up to a funky piece of wood. It busted on the upper limb again, but I found a funny strip of what looks like dry rot buried in the busted limb. If I'd have scraped another fraction of an inch off the belly, I would have hit it.

Good times though. It was super fun to make and I'll start another this weekend!

ps. I did not end up backing it with anything.