So..it is not a masterpiece by any far "stretch" (no pun intended) but I am glad I can pull it without it breaking..haa..I am totally addicted..moving on to Hickory now..







Thnx again for all the help along the way folks..

hey that looks pretty darn good! where the heck did you learn all that! Keep em coming and congratulations

thnx..just followed a combination of build alongs found on here and other online sources.

nice bow.
just let me say that the lower limb is bending more then upper one.
i don't know if this is because of picture quality or not.
better check one more time.

best.

Camoz, From what I can see the tiller looks good.

thats good looking bow. well done

Good work. Bue--.

Thnx folks..when I finished tillering both limbs were pretty much even..maybe I over sanded the lower limb and it ended up a smidge lighter than the top..have not put it on the tree since I sanded..they should be pretty close though..I understand that if anything I would want the lower limb to be a wee bit stiffer..My next one should turn out a bit better now that I have learned so much about the process and the desired end result..
Thnx again.

This pic is after tillering..the final pic

Great job Darcey. Looks great for a first bow. Not many of us can claim a shooter on our first bow. Looking forward to seeing the Hickory bow take shape.

I am having a tough time finding a good Hickory boar..There is a decent hardwood retailer here but the Hickory boards they have are not really that great..not sure when I will find a good Hickory board..I want to start another right away so I may get another Oak board and make it a bit fancier..use a different wood for the rise, lam tips, and hopefully get at least 40lb draw weight this time..the Hickory may have to wait till I find the right board.

You can be a little more flexible with hickory than red oak.  A plain sawn board works as well as a quartersawn.  

Your bow looks great, much better than my first!  As for the tiller, FYI, if it bends evenly on the tree when supported and pulled from center, the lower limb is gonna bend more when you draw it in the hand (hence the previous discussion about positive tiller).  If you look back at all of Roy's pics, you can see he allows for this by placing the support for the grip where the hand would apply the pressure, and he has the pulley hook draw the bow from above center.  There are lots of ways to go about it, but you will want to make that correction on your next one.

Best of luck with finding some hickory (some stores market it as pecan, most sell pecan AND hickory as "hickory").  Ash would be good too, or white oak.  Some round here think white oak is better than hickry.

hmm..very interesting about the tillering and positioning of the handle..good info..I did hear that Hickory was a bit more forgiving (in terms of grain run out etc). I will go back and have a look at them again.

so you position the handle just off center? You put the middle of the support towards the upper limb..or other way around?

My support is at the center of the handle, top limb is to right in picture. Right short line on bow is the arrow shelf.

i used to tiller all my bows on the tree, but now when i am a few inches away from finished, i mark an arrow at the draw length for my finished draw weight( dont want to draw past you draw weight!).
then i get my patient an' sexy wife to take a few pictures of me an' the bow, then i study them to see how they look and what needs to be done.
some guys use a full length mirror to do this, i just find it kinda hard to draw the bow whilst lying on my bed, with one eye on the arrow and one on the ceiling    
the photos work well as i can really zoom in on them and study them at my leisure!

Wayne your starting to sound like me:) LOL

Very funny Wayne, unfortunately now I'm being questioned by the boss whyu I burst out in laughter ...