Sweat times

[Marc St Louis]

I more or less do as Steve (badger) does

[steelslinger]

I feel like I can trust the bow more if it can be braced for half of the day then shoot a few.  Then again I intend to hunt with all of the bows I make for myself.  I tend to put my trade bow through a few more paces. They might sweat for 3 or 4 several hour sessions, just to make sure my guy doesn't end up with a broken bow.

[Dances with squirrels]

Mine are hunting bows too, to be strung for several hours at a time, but I generally don't do it before they're trained to bend properly.

[Pappy]

Maybe an hour when I first get it to full brace, then an hour here and there while I am tillering
it . I rarely leave it braced while I am tillering. I always check it/mark what I want to do and unstring. Make my scrapes or any adjustments I want and brace it back up.  Not sure that is the proper way but rarely have one change weight or tiller once it is finished unless the wood isn't seasoned well. I hardly ever use wood less than 2 or 3 years old and prefer it to be older if possible.  I know some say dry is dry but I feel other wise.  OPPS another can of worms.
 Pappy

[Selfbowman]

Maybe an hour when I first get it to full brace, then an hour here and there while I am tillering
it . I rarely leave it braced while I am tillering. I always check it/mark what I want to do and unstring. Make my scrapes or any adjustments I want and brace it back up.  Not sure that is the proper way but rarely have one change weight or tiller once it is finished unless the wood isn't seasoned well. I hardly ever use wood less than 2 or 3 years old and prefer it to be older if possible.  I know some say dry is dry but I feel other wise.  OPPS another can of worms.
 Pappy
[/quot

I agree Pappy . I will take 6-7 % over 9 any time. Maybe cause where I live. But that's where I like my bows. I am in process of having 60 staves on hand and adding twenty a year that way I always have dry wood.   Arvin

[Badger]

  Pappy, I used to believe that dry was dry and seasoning had nothing to do with it. I can't speak for all types of wood but I do believe that osage continues to gain stiffness as it seasons. I have been using the same bow for my broadhead flght competition for about 6 years now maybe more. Every year including this year I have to take weight off to make the 50# class. The bow has also continued to gain speed with time. This year I wanted to shoot it at 30" instead of 28 so I scraped it down a few months ahead of time. By the time I got it to the flight shoots it was 50# at 28" again. The bow did well considering it was shot into a headwind as opposed to a tailwind but no record this year. I don't think any broadhead records have been set without some wind assist. I also use this same bow for 3 d shooting and occassional hunting trips where it will be braced for hours at a time. The bow has never lost an ounce since the day it was built, it does seem to continue to gain weight though.

[Onebowonder]

I clicked on this thread thinking it was going to be talking about working on bows at MOJAM in July!

<snip>...or anywhere near the level of a few guys I worked on bows around who can nail the tiller and draw weight in the time it takes me to have 2 beers.<snip>

BB, You've really got to work on your drinking skills brother!

OneBow

[simson]

I do the fine tiller on the braced bow.
Let it strung over night, controlling tiller and sometimes a few scrapes here and then are needed.
After a 100 or so shots and controlling again I call it reaady for finishing.

BTW.: I like to have  bow braced min. 15 minutes braced before every shooting.

[wizardgoat]

I've never sweated a bow on purpose.
I do exercise it a lot and leave it strung for the final couple inches.
I always do some short drawing and exercising before shooting too.
I understand why some sweat, I just prefer to shoot the bow and take the final tillering slow.

[Badly Bent]

Eric, my drinking skills may be lacking somewhat but its my tillering skills that need the most work.
Of course there is no reason a guy couldn't work to improve both.

[blackhawk]

Yup...lots of ways to skin this cat...i knew id see a lot of different views and ways of doing it. Good discussion guys..thanks