First Bow - Reached Full Draw - Questions

[karaterick]

Just braced my first red oak board bow and am able to reach full draw - Any critique on the tiller?

Also, do I leave it braced (strung) for awhile or take the string off while it sits?

Thanks

[karaterick]

I should add that I had to choke up on the handle to clear the ceiling. I guess that distorts the tiller a bit.

[ionicmuffin]

always unstring wooden bows when done with them. Granted, you can keep a wooden bow braced for the purpose of stretching the string in some cases. not sure exactly how long. but dont make a habit of it. From what i can see of the bow it looks like a good tiller, if you could get a picture of the whole bow it would demonstrate the tiller better

[Joec123able]

I don't leave my wooden bows strung more then 2 hours then I unstrung it for awhile and let it rest. The only time you should have your bow strung is if your shooting it . Or in this case still working on the bow other wise ii wanna keep the string off as much as you can. Can u get a pic of the till from directly from the side ?

[BowEd]

Without knowing anything about your bow it looks good.Shoot er in with about a 200 arrows checking any tiller changes as you go and finish her up.Looks nice.
Stringing time and brace heighth is up to you.I usually like about a 7" brace to the back of the handle.That's with a 1and1/2" deep handle making it about 5and1/2" to the belly of the handle.
A bow should IMO be able to withstand at least three hours at a time being braced.You'll see as time goes on how the bow fairs out for ya.If tillered good it will be a good one for ya and so far it looks good to me.

[karaterick]

Is this any better?

[bubby]

when I first get to full brace I leave it strung and let it sweat for an hour or so, when i'm hunting it may be strung for 12 hrs  and if it cant take that she don't hunt, Bub

[ionicmuffin]

looks good to me! What i meant by not keeping it strung is that you wont shorten the lifespan of the bow. Keeping it strung for too long would hurt it. 12 hrs is no big deal, even 24 would be doable. but once you get towards a week of being strung it can become damaged. I think it has to do with storing the energy in the limbs for a large period of time.

[karaterick]

Thanks for the input guys. If she looks like she's tillered well enough then I gonna plan on finishing her up. Still have to back it, cut the rest in and stain her.

[Onebowonder]

Your tiller looks good.  Only leave your bow strung when you intend to shoot it soon, ...with the possible exception of when you are just building it as part of the breaking in process. 

OneBow

BTW - What's that funny looking thing hanging on the door behind you?

[karaterick]

Your tiller looks good.  Only leave your bow strung when you intend to shoot it soon, ...with the possible exception of when you are just building it as part of the breaking in process. 

OneBow

BTW - What's that funny looking thing hanging on the door behind you?

LOL! That's one of dem new fangled metal bows

[BowEd]

Good picture of it and good tiller too.Have fun.

[bushboy]

Looks like ya nailed her to me,nice job!

[karaterick]

 Thanks guys!! This has been a lot of fun! Can't wait to finish her up and start a new one!!!

[DarkSoul]

If anything, I can say you could scrape the upper midlimb just a tiny tad. Literally spend one minute scraping - not more. It's really minor but the upper limbs seems a bit stronger. You might also consider turning the bow the other way around. It may be more balanced in the hand if you use the stiffer limb as the bottom limb. Just something to try before you remove wood.
If this is your first wooden bow, you're doing really well! Keep up the good work!