tillering

[onidog]

So how much wood would you take of the belly of the bow before you start tillering it? I'm just afraid that I'll bend it to much at the wrong time and SNAP!!! and that would be sad how far is a good start to taper it down to? is there a standard or do i just go for it. Thanks a bunch. pictures will be coming soon! I'm off to go build my tillering tree 
-Cody

[Weylin]

We would need to know the type of wood, the design, the length, the intended draw weight and draw length before anyone could give you an answer on that. Well, I guess the first three things at the very least. starting dimensions can vary alot from bow to bow. and pictures always help. 

[onidog]

Board bow. Red oak. 72" and 70" nock to nock, around 50 lbs and about 29 inch draw. I'm following directions from www.poorfolksbows.com and it shows it tillering the belly down to a 1/4 inch and it just seems like alot of wood to go down too. also the Stanley surform takes forever taking wood off the bow. is there a better way like a draw knife of something that'll do it. thanks a bunch oh and with the tillering tree what length would the starting top peg or notch be from the top. and are they an inch apart or is there a build along for the tree?
thanks!

[NruJaC]

Don't try and take off all the wood at once. Just get a nice taper going with the thickest part near the handle (you didn't mention if the bow is supposed to bend through the handle or not), and let it taper to 1/2" or so near the tips. Then get the wood bending (called floor tillering because you can check for bend by pushing the tip against the floor). If it doesn't bend immediately, that's fine, just take off a few strokes of wood and try again. Your goal is to just get the wood bending at this point, not to finish the bow. Then you can put a string on the bow and work on getting it to pull to the weight you want. Brace the bow when you can, and keep going until it's at full draw. This process is explained in a lot more depth in TBB volume 1, which I highly recommend reading.

[Weylin]

The best thing that you can do is find an experienced and friendly bowyer in your area that is willing to spend some time with you and show you the ropes. This is what I did and it was invaluable. This  site is a great way to find who is in your area. Where do you live? There's probably someone on here that's not too far away. If that doesn't pan out for some reason then I think the next best thing is to read, read read. There are many great books out there that cover the basics. The traditional Bowyer's Bibles are a good place to start. Paul Comstock's 'The Bent Stick' is really good from what I hear. Good luck and ask lots of questions. 

[Bo]

I've got a 40 lb@28 inches red oak board bow that is 68 inches nock to nock.  It has a 4.5 inch handle with 2 inch fades.  It is 1.5 inches wide at the fade to about mid limb then tapers to 0.5 inch at the tips.  I measured the thickness at the end of the fades 0.8 inches, at mid limb .4 inches and at tips .275 inches.  These measurements were with a dial micrometer.  Your numbers will vary depending on your design and the piece of wood you use.  With yours being 70-72 inches I think yours would be a litter thicker than this.  You can use a draw knife to remove wood faster but you surely can get it done with just a surform.  It is a little better to go slow.  I think most overshoot on their first bow and end up under weight.  Don't expect to get it to the correct thickness and then just bend it to full draw.  You have to go slow and exercise the wood.  Bend a little at first (floor tiller) then long string then short string.  Don't draw or bend with greater force than the intended draw weight.  You have been given some good answers.  Read as much as you can.  TBB and the Bent stick are good resources.  Good luck!

[rudderbows]

just slice off a little bit at a time ( say about 1/32) untill it starts to bend under  nominal elbow grease pressure on the floor tiller

[onidog]

It is true thanks for all the wonderful info. now you say the surform works just fine but maybe I'm using it wrong? i have the one with the straight handle and you pull across the wood but it doesn't seem like its working when its straight. but when its at an angle it pulls slivers all across the wood. Well i won't force the bow to bend which means i need to work the wood more. I'm just afraid of taking to much wood off and ruining it. thanks again for all the info and it sounds like i should pick up some books and bowyer's bibles. lol
-C

[NruJaC]

Yea, it's my main tool, and that's how it works. Take a peek at the teeth, they're all angled.

[George Tsoukalas]

There are buildalongs on my site. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/