white oak board bow.. full draw on page 2

[Pat B]

I would not use oil on a belly before toasting. It helps prevent scorching and I think that's what you want. I oil wood to be bent or straightened but not for belly tempering.

[paco664]

You'll probably want to toast the heck out of the belly with a heat gun and some oil - Crisco before you start tillering.  It'll help to compress the belly cells to reduce set.  White oak is notorious.

i just finished toasting the belly and put a nice reflex on the limbs.  when cool i will get back to tillering.

thanks for the suggestions

i think i may have a winner here i haven't tested the poundage but i have it bending nicely along the length of both limbs and i am taking my time *(for once)

[paco664]

with much thanks to all who commented and offered advice and special thanks to parnell...  we have success *(ish)...   just need to put a finish on it..
white oak board
70" ttt
67.5 ntn   ~45@29"  i know the tiller isn't perfect but i had it CLOSE *(closer than it is now) and screwed up and ended up losing 11lbs of draw by chasing perfect..



and the money shot... excuse the tattoos and messy house *(and dose of ugliness you'll get if you look at my face)

[Hrothgar]

Loosing 11 pounds kinda sucks, but the end product looks good. The tiller may not be perfect but its pretty even.

[fiddler49]

Paco, If your draw length is 28" you could shorten both limbs so that your working limb to nock is 28". That would get the draw weight back up a bit. Looks like limbs are bending too much mid limb. On board bows I keep
the limbs exactly the same thickness from fade to tips. I'll start at about a half inch thick on a 6 ft bow with stiff handle. It will floor tiller right off. Then depending on draw length remove more belly evenly. The elliptical tiller will come from the tapered side profile. I use a power hand planer to get that even thickness on boards and fine tune the tiller with belt sander or scraper. Just a tiny change in thickness variation will give you hinges or wip tilled ends.  cheers fiddler49

[paco664]

Paco, If your draw length is 28" you could shorten both limbs so that your working limb to nock is 28". That would get the draw weight back up a bit. Looks like limbs are bending too much mid limb. On board bows I keep
the limbs exactly the same thickness from fade to tips. I'll start at about a half inch thick on a 6 ft bow with stiff handle. It will floor tiller right off. Then depending on draw length remove more belly evenly. The elliptical tiller will come from the tapered side profile. I use a power hand planer to get that even thickness on boards and fine tune the tiller with belt sander or scraper. Just a tiny change in thickness variation will give you hinges or wip tilled ends.  cheers fiddler49

thanks for the tips i'll apply those to the next one... i may shorten these limbs a bit more to get the power back right now they are 33 5/8ths from center...  i stained the bow and applied a rawhide strip wrap on the handle *(which will probably look like spit when it dries but i'm tryin ya know.. ) and have to wait for that to dry...

i flexed it like a dummy and thought i had cracked something... then remembered the rawhide/knox glue drying and was able to breathe again after a few mins...

[Parnell]

Way to go!  That's about a million times better than my first one.  You done real good!  Have you sent an arrow flying out of it yet?

[paco664]

oddly enough...

went today to buy a couple arrows and pick up some spectra to spin me a string and when i got back it was laying on the tile floor where it had fallen..  there were 3 cats *(my wifes) looking at me with guilty eyes...

i strung it and gave a few light pulls and it broke in half on the upper limb... apparently the cats knocked it over and it cracked something when it hit the ground *(or it was all my fault for building a crap bow)

anyway... it's toast...

anyone want stir fried cat with lo mein noodles?

[PatM]

I think the cats did you a small favor.

[paco664]

I think the cats did you a small favor.

i guess.. i dunno...

there may be an "accident" around the house in the near future...

[PatM]

Well show us where it broke and we'll decide from there.

[paco664]

Well show us where it broke and we'll decide from there.

I called swmbo for a photo and it's already gone en la basura...

I should have taken photos earlier

[DC]

anyone want stir fried cat with lo mein noodles?

I think I've had that Tough about the bow.

[paco664]

i honestly ain't that fluffed up about the bow... i am out 6$ for the wood and it was 100 times better than the last one i attempted...

i'll buy another board and read and absorb more info from you guys...

[George Tsoukalas]

Well, I always suspect grain run outs on boards.
Straight grained tip to tip is the best with a ru  out or 2 allowed depending on the weight of the bow.
Jawge