Am I seeing things?

[Del the cat]

The concern is that the bottom limb is showing the stress and it may increase over time.  Lots of folks are plagued by that.

+1 ... been there done that.
Del

[bradsmith2010]

ok Ill go down the rabbit hole a bit,, even though I think you done a great job,, and with proper arrow it probably shoots great ,,,
as mentioned . the bottom limb may have not settled in,, but it is bending more at rest, ,making it difficult to judge the tiller,, so really the only way for me to feel good about it is shoot it ,,
or have some one you respect shoot it,,
that being said,, if you are unhappy,, taking some off the top limb is not gonna hurt it at all,,
and if it makes you feel like it is shooting better,, then great,, all your options are open and it should be a great bow,, nice save on the splinter,,
here is where I go down the rabbit hole,, it looks like you may be gripping the bow a bit hard, ,this could cause the thump you are experiencing,,try shooting with a loose grip,, proper string and arrow,, dont judge the bow till you have the proper string arrow and grip it likes,,   and I guess the poinit is,, how it is shooting trumps,, how you think the tiller looks,,  on a stave bow,, the way the wood is bending can be decieving to the eye, but not how the arrow flys ..

[wizardgoat]

You have any profile pics before you shot all those arrows?
That’ll tell you straight up if your bottom limb has gotten weaker

[jeffp51]

Both limbs have taken some set, for sure. The stave was verystraight until the last 6 inches or so, which had some reflex. That is where the trouble actually began. I tried to put in the hooks a little early, before it was bending much. Which led to hooks out of alignment, which made bracing hard, which (along with trying to get past a knot that I should have left in) led to taking too much off the tips too early, which led to the splinter. . .  I am surprised it shoots at all.

And yes I am gripping too tight. I was focused on keeping the limbs upright and not so much on my form.

I took a couple of scrapes (enough for one pencil mark) in the two areas on the top that looked stiff to me. I also sanded a bit. I think it looks better, but the photos didn't turn out well (background clutter). I'll take another picture, and shoot some more when it stops raining. But I am probably close enough to leave it alone. I hate fixing stuff till it's broke. . .

[maitus]

If to pull the bow to the full draw by the mirror, the grip moveing should show You which limb is stiffer.
 My bad english... do You understand what i mean .. ?

[leonwood]

So since you started with a straight stave and it is showing some set I would not cut off a piece of the top limb. If you are concerned about loosing weight you can try to heat treat the bottom limb a bit. I did the same thing with my last yew bow and it holds up perfectly after a few thousand arrows

[maitus]

If you are concerned about loosing weight you can try to heat treat the bottom limb a bit. I did the same thing with my last yew bow and it holds up perfectly after a few thousand arrows

Did You heat treat sinew backed bow?