D bow tillering advice please

[TimBo]

There are a bunch of half-finished D bows in my garage rafters that I intend to work on this summer.  However, I haven’t finished a bow in quite a while, and have never built an adult weight D bow, so I thought I would practice on this red oak board that happened to be lying around.  Right now it is about 45 lbs. at 24”; I am going for between 45 and 50 lbs. at 26”.  It’s 67” NTN and 1 3/8” wide at the widest.  If anyone has any advice about where to get the last inch or two of movement, it would be much appreciated.  Do I get the grip to work a bit more (I wouldn’t mind narrowing it if possible), or the outer thirds, or just give the belly a good sanding and pull it to 26”?  Does the tiller look balanced?  It has about 1” of set right now a few minutes after unstringing (started with maybe a quarter inch of reflex, now about 3/4” of follow), and the set seems to be evenly distributed.  Thanks!

[George Tsoukalas]

I think the tiller looks great. The secret to tillering a bend in the handle bow is to not allow it to bend too much. You have achieved that.

If you need to remove more wood leave the handle area alone and remove wood from all of each of the limbs.

My site has more.

http://traditionalarchery101.com/

Jawge

[Pat B]

I agree with George.

[wizardgoat]

Looks good Tim. I like to get my limbs bending nice and evenly before I even think about the handle.
Lots of people make the mistake of getting the handle bending too early, the wonder why their teeth are getting shook out of their head.  If I was looking to get a couple more inches I'd give the mid-outer limbs a few scrapes. Hard to say without seeing the unbraced/braced profiles

[John Scifres]

I'd get it at the midlimb out if anything.  That will round it out some and also reduce mass a bit.  These bows can get kinda shocky if the limbs are heavy.  Looks good though.

[TimBo]

OK, thanks guys.  I was wondering about the outer limbs.  I shot it a few times with something like a 22" draw, and it was pretty shocky.  After that I narrowed the last 8" or so of each limb, but I could do that some more, or give a few scrapes.  The existing set is spread pretty evenly, but not all the way out to the tips, so maybe I can get it to flex more there without adding more set.  It does seem that the tiller could be a bit rounder too, but I will go slow and not change it much.  Or maybe I will add braced and unbraced photos first.  Anyway, thanks a bunch - I couldn't ask for a better group of PA advice givers!

[Frodolf]

I think tillering is a lot about taste and tradition, and my 2 cents is that I'd take off some wood on the outer parts of the limbs (leaving the tips stiff though). That's just me. It's not bending a lot out there. That means it's thick which means mass which means more hand shock. And if there is not much set out there then, IMHO, it's a sure sign it can bend more out there quite safely.

Though I've never worked with red oak... Good luck!

[sapling bowyer]

I agree with Frodolf. I think you should lover the mass on the outer limbs but not make them bend too much

[mikekeswick]

The outer upper limb is a little stiff compared to the lower. So i'd take 5 scrapes there to even them up. Then i'd finesse a shade more bend from the mid to the outers.
You mention the set being evenly distributed. Watching the set is key to tillering any design correctly. The wood will always tell you if you are doing it right! The 'mantra' in the TBB's of no set inner limbs, a little mid limb and the rest in the outer limbs is a great one to live by.
I wouldn't narrow that handle now. Best to start off with it at the width you want from floor tiller with bendy handle bows.

[H Rhodes]

It looks close to perfect to my eyes.  I would sand it down slick and then see where you are. 

[TimBo]

Update:  After thinking over all the comments and really taking a good look at the photos and existing set, I decided that the top outer limb was just a bit stiffer than the lower (as some of you mentioned).  I narrowed/rounded the tips a bit more and took a few scrapes off of the outer third on the upper limb.  At that point, I was feeling pretty good about it and pulled it back to 26".  Set seemed good still, top limb looked better.  I shot it a bit, and it shoots pretty well!  MUCH less shocky, just a bump now that should be gone after a bit of cork and a leather wrap is added.  I think it's done except for sanding and shooting in.  And of course finishing...and then I can get to all of my other D blanks!

Mike - thanks for the tip on starting off with the handle width you want - that makes sense now, but at the time I guess I assumed the handle would be pretty stiff when I got to this point and I would reduce it (width and thickness) during the last few inches of tillering.  Oh well...once I get the right spine on my arrows, it won't bother me!