Will do, should I leave it stringed all the time or only when working on it?

only when working

Alright, I've spent a couple hours scraping but I have to get a little sleep.  I've primarily been scraping the right side. It's gotten a little better but not quite there. Don't know if I'm doing something wrong but it sure isn't changing as fast as I thought it would. Here are some pics. Sorry, had to squat in the drawn picture. My helper wasn't available to take the pic for me so I had to squat to get it in the screen. Draw weight still hasn't changed. Still 50# at 24".

What do you think?

 

 

 

QuoteOriginally posted by jeremy1517:
Don't know if I'm doing something wrong but it sure isn't changing as fast as I thought it would.

What do you think?

Famous words before making a 30# first bow  

You are doing great.  Patience is your most effective tool right now.

Keep scraping the same area.

Haha, will do.  I was meaning, after scraping a few hrs, I was surprised it didn't change more than it did.  I will take my time, don't want to mess it up.....

Once you make a few bows, you will know more about wood removal and how it affects tiller.  But for now, just enjoy the process knowing it will end well.  Scraping little curls of wood off an osage stave is therapeutic.

   

Well, been at it for a while. Thought I'd post pics and see where you all think I need to scrape. I've been scraping from the handle to just over the midline on only the right limb.

I'm liking how it looks when drawn but not the upside down braced look.

I don't think this matters, but the back side of my handle is not level or flat across the handle.

Where do I need to scrape?

 

 

Getting closer.  Right limb is on the bottom here.

 

Green means go.  10 scrapes at a time and then check.

 

Don't worry too much about the braced look.  It helps at first to point out major issues but when you get close to full draw, that's what counts most.  If you can, you might consider the right limb being the lower limb.  It is slightly stiffer now and that's how you want a lower limb.  Get a drawn pic with it as the lower after a couple scraping session.

I cut the notches on the top at 3/4" down and the bottom notch was cut 1/2" down from the end.  That's the only difference. If that doesn't matter I will switch it.  What do you think?  I've been using the push/pull method of stringing and not a stringer.

That should be fine.

Alright John, I feel like it's getting close.  Makes me nervous.....  I want to check in with an update to see what you think.

Here is the current bend at 25", still pulling 50#.

I flipped the top and bottom for the picture of me drawing the bow. Stiffer side is now the bottom limb.

What do you think?

 

 

Still needs a little in those spots marked above.  Looking good.

John you just made my head hurt! did you mean to say make the right limb the upper?  don't you want to make the stiffer limb the upper, because pulling from above the center of the string puts more pull into the upper than the lower?  or have i had this backwards the entire time?  if you didn't mis-speak, I would be most gracious if you could explain it!    

jeremy-looking way better!  nice job.
John- you have to show me the double exposure limb pic trick...  
Bob

Alright, here's after the next round of scraping....

Thoughts?

 

 

My Daughter was helping in that pic.....

Eric,

That discussion can get pretty deep so let's not get into it on this thread.  Suffice it to say that long-held wisdom is that the lower limb should be the stiffer one.  Start a thread called "positive v. negative tiller on selfbows" and the collective can weigh in from all sides.

Bob,

I could show you in person pretty easy but to try to explain it here is hard.  I use photofiltre, copy one limb, flip it horizontally and then make it 50% opaque and then paste it adjacent to the other limb. Got that?  

Jeremy, you are getting really close.  Work those two areas at the tips I marked above.  What is your draw weight?  Try to hit your mark 1-2" short of your draw length to accommodate for shooting it in and finish work.