Long string

[txdm]

dxdm, how far did you long string tiller? Jawge

Just long enough to put on the nocks without any slack... I just got carried away. Fortunately I was able to use heat to take it from 2" set down to 1", and it has stayed that way so far. (Hickory board bow)

[willie]

Good floor tillering will reveal the true bend of your limb more so than the long string.Since pressure is applied to the limb the same way more so like being drawn than on the long string.

Interesting technique, Beadman.  Do you push downward with one hand while pushing sideways with the other?

[loon]

sounds like I'll try first floor tillering then something like a 3" brace. would the limbs be stressed practically the same proportion between 3" and 6" brace? (ie not more significant outer limb bend with 6"?)

[BowEd]

willie...I'm really not pushing sideways.It's the same technique shown in TBB books.No secret technique.There's pictures in there.Doing one limb at a time.Just takes practice.I used an old FG bow that was 40#'s to practice with before I made my first self bow.To get the feel of it.
Off of my right side.Bows belly kinda facing me.I'm right handed.My left hand grabs the upper limb.My right hand pushes at the handle with the tip against the ground.I look down the side of the limb to see the bend.My right hand remembers the pressure it took to get the limb bending a certain distance.I turn the bow around.Off of my left side my right hand grabs the upper limb.My left hand pushes at the handle with the tip against the ground.I look down the limb to see the bend again.My left hand remembers and corresponds to the same pressure it took my right hand to get the same bend my left one is showing.It takes practice.
When you really get good you can look at both limbs at the same time bending using same pressure on both hands.Then you don't need to go from one side to the other.4" of tip movement means you still have at least a 50# bow.Does'nt matter if it's a character bow either.
Recurves are harder as Brad said.Best to floor tiller it as a long bow then bend your recurves in exactly the same and you'll be ok.I really can't believe this is news to you.It's a skill that makes a bow to brace with the least amount of stress put on a bow you can do.
loon...Like I said it's the kindest way to get a bow from floor tiller to brace there is.If a bow takes set just from bending 4" it's too wet a and let it dry some more for sure.These bows are'nt made of glass,They can handle more than you guys think.
willie & loon....Just getting it bending evenly over the whole limb and each limb matching the same amount of pressure but leaving the outside 6" tip end stiff.I still will put it on a short long string most times and check the bend quick and get my 6 to 8 inches of tip movement below handle yet around my target weight before going to the short string.

[BowEd]

Doing all of this slowly too once the bow starts bending even 2".Eliminating any undulations in thickess taper on the belly before doing any heavy bending over a foot or more.At brace site down the edge of your limb.Spot stiff spots.Fix em.All this to reduce any stress anywhere in paticular.Just your basic tillering a bow slowly the kind way.

[willie]

nice explanation, Ed.  I am still scratching my head as to why floor tillering in the conventional way might give a "truer" bend than if done on the tiller tree.

Its always nice to re-read TBB one in a while, the chapter I found (that you might be referring to) is by Jim Hamm    "Tillering" p257 TBB1.

[BowEd]

willie...floor tillering is the pre bending step before being put on the tillering tree.

[Badger]

  I trust the floor tiller bend more than the long string bend also. If I am working on a standard maybe slightly reflexed longbow all I do is floor tiller to brace. I use the long string quite a bit on elbs and also bows that have a lot of reflex. I have another method I use where I rest the ends on rollers and crank down the handle. Not much feel with this method though it does keep a highly reflexed bow under control while the limb tiller is at least ballanced out.

[George Tsoukalas]

I go from floor to long string (10 in. of string movement...not tip movement), to short brace height. Tiller bow.
Personally, I like the long string because I can see at a distance how the limbs are bending and I've developed a method of determining if the stave is light enough to string.
I've never seen the tips of a finished bow move more than 2-3 inches.
Just make a bow.
Analyzing just keeps you out of the shop which is where you learn.
Jawge

[JonW]

I believe developing a good eye during floor tiller will help with seeing the true bend. Most of the time I can get a real good brace tiller just from floor tillering. I use a belt sander to tiller and constantly check floor tiller. I do that by using the same form as push/pull stringing the bow. Look down the bottom limb and check bend. Flip it over and check the other limb. With enough practice you can eliminate putting a string on the bow until you are ready to brace. In the end though I reccommend you do whatever it takes to get your tiller nailed  Floor tiller will speed up the tillering process but it is not about speed it is not overstressing the bow by stringing it and pulling just to find a bad spot. Find your uneven spots with floor tiller.

[DC]

I've never seen the tips of a finished bow move more than 2-3 inches.

Jawge

I'm sure I'm missing something here Jawge

[bradsmith2010]

keep in mind, guys are making it sound easy, but are really using a combination of
floor tiller
long string
taper
intuition,,,
most guys that have made alot of bows,, could scrape one out with even taper,, and brace it skipping most steps,, and be pretty close,, on a first brace,,   mainly by just the way it looked,,
but everything you do to have it bending evenly first brace is gonna bennefit the bow,,

[George Tsoukalas]

DC,
Here's my last bow at brace.



Here it is at full draw.



If watched as I pull on the rope and pulley and release, not  much movement there at the tips.

Hard to explain without a video.

Jawge

[DC]

Gotta be more than 2-3", doesn't it? I did some tests a while back and found that, roughly speaking, tip movement is the power stroke divided by 3. So 6" brace, 21" power stroke on a 28" draw makes 7" of tip movement.

[Badger]

  Tip movement is pretty meaningless. Just read the weight at the point you are pulling it to. It will read pretty close to the same thing it would read if it were braced even if you are on a long string with no brace. If your string is hanging down loose at 6" and you pull it to 50# at 24" it will read prety close to that f you are to brace it even though it will have much less string movement. Most of your draw weight increase is due to loss of leverage and not from the wood actually becoming harder to bend.