Del's 120# Pacific Yew Warbow

[Del the cat]

Just finished a Warbow from a Pacific Yew stave provided by the guy wanting the bow.
76 3/4" ntn 79 ttt.
The back is untouched and retains some of the underbark surface showing.
I've done 5 videos showing the whole build and there are loads of pics and dimensions on my blog (Bowyers Diary)
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/moan.html
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/slowly-improving-tiller.html
Here's the link to the playlist of videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR28fBBADdY&list=PLBz2tD9476KRkSOSICLsc-zj5ADyPKLZB
It's not actually been shot yet. The bow has no set even after exercise and being strung half a day. Fully rested it has a whisker of backset.
Del

[alexw]

Hi Del

Looks great and I've really found the buildalong videos useful - thanks!

A question from me as I get my head around tillering and what to look out for - is the left limb not markedly stiffer than the right? Might be a trick of light and shadow, but that's how it seems to this relatively untrained eye.

Cheers

[Del the cat]

Indeed the left (lower) is a tad stiffer, but that the traditional "positive tiller" found on most bows (even modern target recurves are adjusted that way)
It's due to the bow being pulled or gripped from slightly off centre.
I used to think it was hogwash until I had an Ash flatbow go weak in the lower limb.
Del

[joachimM]

Del, I actually had the same question. How do you know the tiller is OK, with such a difference? I mean, differing a whole brick  it looks a lot more than just "a tad stiffer". I can gather that you can feel it through shooting and moving the handle position a bit, but since this hasn't been shot yet I wouldn't know how to evaluate the tiller here.

[Del the cat]

A whole brick seems to be about what I usually get. Bear in mind I try to support the bow on the tiller where it will be supported in the hand and draw it from where the string will be pulled.
This post shows what a difference that can make.
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/tillering-symmetry.html
There is little difference visible at brace if you look at the video on Youtube.
Experience has shown me that if I tillered it to look perfectly symmetrical, it would look weak in the lower limb when actually shot.
That's one reason i take video and generally also take pics with a bow being actually shot. Hopefully I'll get some pics of it being shot at the weekend... it's too heavy for me, I damn near tweaked my back stringing it
Dunno if this pic helps. Two identical circles/ellipses offset by the length of the grip showing the two limbs have a similar curve. I s'pose to some extent it depends where you visualise the hand that holds the bow and where the weight is supported. Base of thumb or heel of hand... all rather subtle and subjective.
You also need to view it in the light of how it progresses from the earlier stages... the tiller may not be perfect, but it is vastly improved over the course of the build. It also needs to be viewed relative to the unbraced stave. It's not made from machined laminations!
Del

[Badger]

  I bet that bow has good cast, I like the tiller shape with the center slightly stiffer. Good job on that one.

[joachimM]

Thanks for clarifying. I bet experience wheighs a lot more than mere looks at a photo.
J

[make-n-break]

For what it's worth Del, I think the tiller looks spot on. I think you guys are seeing an illusion because it's rocking to the right on his tree from being drawn from where the hand rests and not center.

[Del the cat]

Here's a pic of an actual shot approaching full draw (Not much room to shoot confidently into my garage)
Del

[Onebowonder]

Dear GAWD!!!  Is that a broom handle you've got for an arrow there?  I think I could make a respectable bow out of your arrow!

OneBow

[Del the cat]

That's my mate JT, I can't draw the damn thing. That's a standard Warbow arrow
Del

[ChrisD]

Looks like he can't draw it either! Very nice bow. Theres another in a recent post showing stiff tips and too much movement in the middle - either a waste of a good stave or a 60lb bow in the making. What you've done looks just about right. Not whip tillered but stern in all the right places.Nicely done.

[Del the cat]

... but if he'd had some decent warm up time and wasn't standing in a doorway he'd have been fine....
He just dropped by to pick it up.
Sheesh... everyone's a critic
Del

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

Dear GAWD!!!  Is that a broom handle you've got for an arrow there?  I think I could make a respectable bow out of your arrow!

OneBow

Yeah, warbow arrows don't play, always cracks me up when you see in documentaries where they supposedly test this or that armor against the longbow or even in movies and they're using standard target arrows. This wasn't like the movies getting shot in the shoulder with standard size arrows and riding off on your horse to snap the shaft and pull it out later, a volley of English warbow was a rain of miniature spears!

[Badger]

  One of my pet peeves in flight shooting competition is that elbs have no weight limit on arrows and can shoot arrows well below 200 grains. I gives every incentive to design the bow in such a way that is not truly an elb. I would like to see at least a 7 grain per pound lower limit on arrow weight.