Question on tillering a snake bow?

[Selfbowman]

I follow the grain on the back of the bow and keep it flat as possible. My question is this  do you snake lovers thin the part of the limb that goes out from the center of the bow or keep the belly side as flat as possible following the grain. I have experienced with thinning the out side centering the mass more. What do the snake guys say? Here is a pic of where I would thin the limbs from the pencil mark out.

[Hamish]

Not exactly sure what you mean. Are you referring to cancelling slight amounts of propellor twist? If so I usually mirror what the back does,on the belly, follow the character no matter which dimension it goes, rather than impose a predetermined flatness like you would have on a board stave.

[bentstick54]

I have not done any as snakey as the one your working on yet, but the ones I have built, like Hamish, I tried to match the back all the way as best I could.

[Jim Davis]

Only made a few snakey bows, but I would NOT remove wood outside those pencil lines. Looks like you have the shape just right already. If you remove that wood, you will greatly weaken those areas.

[Selfbowman]

Keep them coming guys. Jim I have done it in the past with good results. My thinking is that it helps keep ya he limb from torquing as it’s be nt

[Pappy]

Is that the back or belly we are looking at ?? I always am very careful to follow the longitudinal grain and be sure you have no run off in the working part of the limbs. Also very careful in the larger snakes when tillering , they for some reason take a hinge there if not careful. Also be careful when trying to take out propeller in them areas, little at a time or the can open up on the grain. Done a bunch of, some work out great and some don’t , just always take it slow, much slower than a normal straight limb bow, they can do strange things but love them and the challenge. Pappy

[Eric Krewson]

I have made a lot of snaky bows, I leave the limb thickness square on the sides. I make my bows with slightly rounded belly, almost flat in the wider part of the limbs and more rounded past the taper and in the last foot of the limbs.

This just out from the fade;



Mid limb



A foot in from the tip;



And 6" from the tip;

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I would keep the limbs even thickness along the width. That’s what I try doing on the ones I’ve done and haven’t had any trouble yet

Kyle

[NonBacked]

Arvin, are you suggesting that the extreme outside edges of the curves be thinned to force the strength of the wood (thickness & power) to be closer to the bow’s centerline (tip tp tip)? If that’s the case, dealing with limb twist would have to be “balanced” from side to side (curve to curve). If it worked, there would be a definite increase in efficiency. Interesting idea!

[Selfbowman]

Nonbacked that’s exactly what I’m talking about. I done it on a couple bows. Bob Barnes has one. Maybe he can measure the edges of the bends and shed some light on what I’m saying. Hello Bob! 🤠🤠

[Selfbowman]

Ok here is a pic to try to explain what I’m saying. The top of the T is the ticker part of the limb and the bottom of the T is thinner. A straight line all the way across the limb would be the same thickness all the way across the limb. The blue line represents the center of the limb.

[Selfbowman]

This tillering method would welcome Eric’s tillering gizmo.

[Selfbowman]

Check out the two growth rings on the end of the blank! Not my most favorable choice but we will see what comes from it.

[Eric Krewson]

That will be a challenging stave to tiller. I made most of my snaky bows out of sister billets instead of staves, this way I could orientate limbs to be in line and have the snakes match better through the length of the stave.

You can see how the limbs match in this sister billet snake bow. In the picture I am putting the final finish over the skins.

[Selfbowman]

Eric I can see what you are talking about. Everything comes to rest the same less vibration.