Elm recurve tiller check, please...R.I.P.

[medicinewheel]

Hey guys, tillered this little elm recurve today, 58" ntn, 35#@24". upper limb wouldn't want to come around really for a while, and now I'm afraid I overdid. Tiller blind by now...
Have a look. Any coments welcome (as long as they remain family friendly  )
Thanks.

[Bevan R.]

I took the liberty of grabbing the last photo and taking the bottom limb, flipping it and putting it side by side to the upper limp. Does this help? I would aggree that tye upper is bending more...

[medicinewheel]

WOW, I really have to learn photoshop - great thanks!!!

[Bevan R.]

I use a program called GIMP. does the same stuff as photoshop but is a free download.

http://www.gimp.org/

[Cameroo]

Ya, I'd stay away from that section starting about 2 or 3 inches out from the fade on the upper limb until you get the lower one caught up a bit.

The upper limb is definitely bending more.

[Stoker]

Nice looking bow can't to see the finished product
Thanks Leroy

[Christophero]

Then again you may want to stop right there if you are happy with it.  Recurves have a tendency for the bottom limb to stress more than the top limb and this may help cancel that out.  Just a thought.

[fusizoli]

I think at the first stepp working on jut the upper limb from midd. Now that limb working too much at inner limb after the fade.
Than will see the bottom limb need some more work or not.
 I would use some heat treat too.

[medicinewheel]

To draw the bow actually feels pretty good, nice balance. I left the tillering alone for now and toasted the belly to gain back some of the reflex; now I leave it sitting for a few days. 30 to 35#@24" is my desired draw weight for this one, so if I'd gain some pounds from toasting, I would scrape it some more.

@Bevan: actually I use GIMP; just have to learn to do that sort of legerdemain with it! Thanks again...

[sailordad]

i see nothing wrong with that
that bottom limb is just a tad stronger,nothing qrong with a little positive tiller

[adb]

I'd say the bottom limb is stiffer.

[Holten101]

Dont mind the hasty photoshop job. I have marked with arrows on the picture were I would remove some wood:

Green is the upper limb and red is the lower (I hope I didnt switch them around;-)

Cheers

Btw: Very inspiring work....I hope I have a suitable piece of wood in the workshop:-)

[Marc St Louis]

Frank
Recurves of that style need to be exercised a lot more than other bows after wood removal.  Also the tiller can shift overnight after resting as you work on the bow

[Gordon]

The thickness taper of the upper limb does not look right to me. It should taper evenly from thicker at the fades to thinner as you approach the recurve, and it seems to be doing the opposite.

[medicinewheel]

@adb, sailordad: yes the bottom limb is stiffer, and the tiller is ~3/8" positive at the deepest point of the curve, which may be a bit too much, since the upper limb is also ~3/4" longer. It does balance nicely when pulled, though, thats why I'm insecure!

@Holton: It's great to see it pictured like that: That's exactly where I thought it doesn't want to come around.

@Mark: I have worked it slowly and I have worked it a lot, but maybe not enough. I'll do that some more when it has gained a normal moisture content after the toasting; it's fairly humid around here right now, would you say 4 days, 5 days would be enough?

@Gordon: you are right, it appears to look like that on the pictures, but I just gave it a close inspection, and it tapers the way it should except for several bumps due to some pin knots which may have cause the imagination.

@everybody: whenever I asked a question here in the past I was given answers that helped me solve the problem, this time is no exception. Thanks for that!