hey Kelly- man you are one persistent sonofa..    :D     you just dont know when to quit              
anyway, you are getting all the right kind of advice by the best out there- so i will not venture into their realm, the only thing i will say- that i have learnt the very hard way-
tis those darn tillering sticks- pulling them out to a long/full draw, then stepping back and taking the photo- to me that usually spells the death of the bow, or at the very least a lot more set. just sitting under full load, while we fart around getting the pic is not good for these wooden bows- i like the tillering tree, with the rope and pulley, i use a nice long rope so that i can get nice and far back for good perspective, and with the mechanical advantage- i can pull the rope with one hand, and very quickly click the photo with the other, then let down immediately, i dont like to hold my bows at full draw more than two seconds- i use 2 sec. because the way i shoot: i pull to full draw, then pause for a second or so, then release.
just what i have found- but everybody does everything a little different
cheers mate
wayne

fujimo,
Thanks I use a tree if you look in the pics you can see the hook and rope. I do however hold it longer then I like for It is on my horse and not on a wall so I have to sit on it. If I don't it will just pull the horse. So I tie off the end for a bit to take pics but I don't take pics every time I shave it. maybe every 2 or 3 inches.

In the summer I put it in my vice but it is outside and it has been a bit cold. I need to get pics up of my new attempt. I have cut to its profile and thinned. I am working on a laminate handle. Before I put it on the bow plan on tillering it a bit to see where the string tracks.

I will try and get pics up tomorrow.

The board I am using is the sister to the one that I just cracked. it is in the first pic on the thread the one on the left.

ok here is the profile pic



and a brace pic



it looks like it is bending in the handle a bit much. I have it pulling to 24" and around 30#. I will put some heat on it tomorrow and get the string tracking a bit better then glue on a laminated handle.

Once that is done I will see how it is looks that might make the limbs bend a bit better and increase the weight a bit because there will be a total of 7" less of bending section.

I will get some pic of the heating up after I get it done.

A powerlam should extend into the fades. That the purpose of them to stiffen the fades. I would go 2 inches past each end minimum.

So mike make an 11" piece to glue on the back of the bow?

Ok I prefitted the clamps.



Then I greased up the area to be heated.



then I heated it up then clamped it and heated it some more then strapped it in place then heated it more.



Once cool I will take it off the form.

How thick should a power lamb be? I have some white oak, hickory, hedge, ipe, black locus all about a 1/4" thick. Ipe and hedge are a bit thinner but not much.

Ok I had a hickory backing strip laying around. It had a not in one end. So I cut out my 11" power lame and had plenty to back that first bow that cracked and lifted one heck of a splinter. Why? well why not?. So I got a bit done on 2 bows.
The strip

 

The knot

 

The Power lam and backing strip cut out.

The bow with the strip



I thinned both with a hand held belt sander.

On the backing I only did the last 19" of eadh end.

So I mocked up the strip to the bow and then applied the glue.



And I the handle is getting glued on the second bow. Then I will do the power lam.

oh and don't tell the wife I glued up the bow on the counter top.

oh the crack. I used super glue and lifted the splinter a bit and just filled it with super glue. Then clamped it back down.

on the bottom side of the handle- is that an optical illusion, or is there a gap there?

might be a bit of a gap. I will look at it later if it is I will fill it with wood glue and saw dust. I know it is cheating but I never seem to get no gapes with my set up so we shall see.

if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all, blues, despair and agony on me. woah

I broke the third one I was working on this is not cool at all. It might be the dryness in the air due to the super cold temps out.

Well I am going to hit the stave pile. I need to get some pics up of some any way for a trade I need to do.

geez Kelly seems like you have the same type of luck that haunts me most times.Hang in there son perseverance and all that!  

Kelly I think you need to find some better wood. Even if you have to cut two staves in half and splice two good half's together.

roy I had made bows for sisters stave of that wood. A very nice one in fact. They just did not like being boards I guess. This one gave in a place I did not expect I will try and get a pic up. Yall might see something I did not.

real sorry to hear that kelly, chin up!!
did you back the boards, or chase a ring on them?
i dont remember seeing that    

They were quarter sawn boards I cut from a thin ringed stave. That stave had thin stuff I did not want to chase a ring a good one was deep so I tried something new.