r/d walnut self bow

[Mark Anderson]

Here's a walnut self bow I made for a friend as a trade. He had a bunch of Louis L'Amour leather bound books that I wanted so and he wanted a bow.
70" ntn 47# @ 30"  stained with the walnuts from itself. shoots really smooth, could be a little faster for my liking. First time to r/d a self bow. pointers are very welcome.
Thanks
Mark

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[Dano]

Holy Cow!! that upper limb looks like it's going to break any time, that's an awful lot of stress in one spot.

[El Destructo]

OK...you asked for constructive Criticism....so here goes.....I love Walnut....makes great Bows.... the Tiller on this Bow is really scary....you really need to get some more of them Limbs bending....you are going to have a major Blowout here soon with the way that Top Limb is bending....and the Bottom ain't far behind! two thirds of each limb is static right now...all of the Bend is through  one third of the Limbs....not a good design.... Also the Handle Portion of this Bow seems to be awfully large too...making this shorter on your next Bow will give you more working limb to bend also....don't mean to be harsh...just want you to know where I think the Problems are....Good Luck....

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[Mark Anderson]

Ok. I see.
When reflexing I had some wood lift off the top limb about 8-10" from the nock on the belly side, so in tillering it initially started to bend there to much and I guess I overcompensated. Does anyone have any designs for handles. I really like this one but I guess I could make it shorter. It is really comfy and natural feeling. Thanks. I got thick skin and just want to get better so harsh isn't that harsh.
Mark

[El Destructo]

I like Your Handle Design....I was just wondering if it could be made shorter to give you more working limb....I guess I am a poor one to be giving advise for Handles....since most of My Bows are Plains and West Coast Styles....and they have little to no thickness in their Handles.... I was more than anything worried about the way them Limbs are....or should I say aren't bending for most of their Length....you can hear the Time Clock ticking.......

[medicinewheel]

....you can hear the Time Clock ticking.......

I'm afraid this is true; really be careful with this!

[woodstick]

i wouldnt shoot it no more till you try to fix the tiller you will loose pounds but may save the bow. you may end up with a nice kids bow. but hey that will be one happy kid. i have a tuff time with tiller myself, but you need to work that one a little more. dont give up on it just getter to bend more on the rest of the limbs.

[adb]

Everyone has given you some excellent advice. The top limb especially has a major hinge. Store that in the memory bank for next time! You also might want to round the edges a bit more to reduce stress. Wouldn't hurt to lighten your tips a bit too. Keep going!!

[knap_123]

i  had a problem similiar to this and messed up a nice osage kid bow  i was working on.  what i did was not  remove  wood properly from the hinge area and it just got worse till it was damn near a L  shape  when i pulled it.   at what areas wouald you remove wood from this major hinge here?  to the left and right   or were?   i need to lean  how to fix  this myself  for future purposes. 

[radius]

one way i try to prevent set or hinges is to tiller from the tips to the handles...when i pull to my desired draw weight, i make sure the tips bend just as much as i want them to before tillering the midlimb, which leads finally to the fades and beefiest parts of the limbs, where the final tiller is made to drop it into weight at the right draw length. 

[radius]

that being said, the r/d style tends to stiffen the tips and i guess i'd have to bring the tiller in a little more. 

You know who makes great r/d bows?  RyanO...check his stuff out on here and you'll see what you're trying to do.  Also, Wytetail did an r/d buildalong last year you should check out.  It's a good one.

[OldBow]

Got your bow bookmarked for July Self BOM. Everybody else has given you good advise.

[Mark Anderson]

Thanks guys for all the good advice. That's why I put it up here.
Ok, so here's a thought. how about if I do re-tiller and of course it brings the draw weight down a bunch since it is re-curved (although ever so slightly) could I still pike it to bring the weight back up? And say I lose #15 of draw weight how much do you estimate for each inch I take off would it gain in weight? It's 70" ntn so I still have some room to play with.
Thanks again guys,
Mark

[El Destructo]

Here is some food for thought.... I got this from Pip Bickerstaff


For each 1% of the length cut off.....the draw weight will go up approximately 5%....Divide the weight you want....by the weight you have......The figure to the right of the decimal is the percentage increase you want....Divide this decimal figure by 5 to yield the percentage the bow should be shortened......Multiply this figure by the bows length to give the amount to be cut off.....Take half of this amount from each end.....damned thats a Mouthfull!!!!!!!!

here just go to this site....it's got a bunch of Confusing Information.....

www. tradlongbows.co.uk/article.htm

[Mark Anderson]

Thanks El!. There is some really useful information on there.
I'll start working on her and see where it goes.
Mark