Short bow tiller

[PeteC]

I started tillering this little bow today,which is an entry in the backpack challenge.It is 40" tip to tip.flipped tips,which leave 34" of working limbs.There is a whoop-d-do on the left limb,which is nearly tillered out,,(I believe there is enough wood to smooth it out).In the drawn picture,it sits at 14",holding 35#.I hope to take this draw past18",possibly 20"@45#,if the wood will take it.  My question is this;   In your opinion,should I take more wood off the handle area right now,to" round it out",or should I go ahead and draw to 45# now,to see if the handle will bend more from the increased draw? I'm asking you short bow experts, to avoid putting undue stress (and set) on this tiny bow.Any input would be appreciated.Thanks and God Bless

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[mullet]

 It looks like it's bending pretty good to me. The handle also doesn't look overly thick either. I would leave it alone for right now and keep doing what you have been doing. And 45# and a 40" bow I don't see how you will not have some set. It also shouldn't be a problem and a little set might help the long life of the bow.

[Ryano]

Looks like it could bend a wee bit more in the handle area but not a whole lot.

[Badger]

I see it the same as Ryan, looking pretty good but just maybe a hair more bending in the handle area.

[burn em up chuck]

i don't know enough yet, but i would say your right. from center out 4" on rt. limb, then back to lft limb all the way to the hump. at this point i would leave the tips(as much as 8" each one) alone. also just a reminder(i forgot on mine) you can tiller by narrowing the bow too. hope this helps,but there are others who thrive on building these shorty's. i hope they chime into help too.
    
                                                                                                           chuck

[mullet]

  I didn't mean leave the handle area alone. But scrape from the fades to mid-limb until it gets close to the target draw and then tweek the handle. From the picture it didn't look like an excess of extra wood in the handle and it wouldn't take much to start it hinging.

[sumpitan]

At only 14" of draw the handle might seem a tad stiff, but it also may start bending a lot within the remaining 6 inches of draw. The handle looks thin. I'd leave it like that and very incrementally take wood off it only if it doesn't respond to longer draws. Very easy to end up with too-round-in-the-handle tiller when working on big draws from small sticks.

Tuukka

[mullet]

 also, after looking at your handle support on your pulley system, the bend in the handle you see could be deceiving since your support is so wide.

[PeteC]

Sorry I took so long to get back,(busy cleaning up trees and limbs from "Ike").Eddie,I was thinking the same thing about the support on my tiller board,it's 4 1/2" wide,and could surely be interfering with the handle area bend.I worked it down to 15 " early this morning,and the tad I scraped off the handle helped.I'm just gonna keep on doing what I was,just being real light with the handle.Thanks to all for the input everyone.I believe we're all on the same page,and that's what I was huntin'.  I'll update progress in a couple of days.    God Bless

[Sidewinder]

Pete... I would say you are on your way with that one. What a scrappy lil bow that one will be if you get her shooting.   Danny

[Pappy]

Looks pretty good to me.Maybe a little between the fads and the little woop de do on the left
limb.What draw length are you going for ?
   Pappy