First One Is Started

[greyhawk39]

She is a nice looking bow,they will all get better after this for sure,nice job.  

[Apex Predator]

I sure hope she holds together for you, because she is very nice looking.

[Steve Kendrot]

I wonder if those overlays could have been extended past the fades and feathered into the belly to give the effect of longer fades? Never made a glass bow so only speculating here...

[virginiashadow]

Awesome thread, I read every post.  I just started shooting a recurve this year and I am very interested in building a bow January of next year.  I think it will be a lot of fun.

[Jason Scott]

Steve, I would be afraid they would pop off.

[D.A. Davis]

Ok guys, I've started the tillering process.  Remember when looking at the pictures that the lower (left) limb has a flat spot in the curve of the limb due to a problem with my form.  With that said, it looks to me like my lower limb is a little stiffer than the upper, and it appears to be flexing at the fades, as it should.  Now, a couple of questions.  When I'm sanding the lower limb to unstiffen it, do I sand on the back/belly of the limb, or the sides of the limb?

And, I know I should know this, but is it the string should be 3" shorter than length on a longbow, and 4" on a recurve, or do I have it backwards?

I've been bending the limbs while in my tillering stand, and the limbs are becoming more flexible the more I bend them.  Here's some pictures.

[D.A. Davis]

Ok, I went back to my bow and realized that I didn't have the bow square with the graph chart.  So, after making sure that bow was square, here are some new pictures.  What do you think.  Do I need to do anything at this point?  I've still got to put a string of the right length on it.  Here's the pics.

[D.A. Davis]

Well, this project is over.  I put a string on it and had it on my tiller stand when it gave way while drawing it to 28", 29" & 30".  I guess this is a perfect example of what short, fast fades will do, I guess.  I'll think about my mistakes and then start another project bow.  Here's some pics.

[Bob Barnes]

Great attempt...thanks for sharing...you obviously learned a lot that will make the next one a good one.  If we could ever get Dave Albright, Elmer Patton, and Rick Welch together sometime for some pointers...or maybe a workshop over at Mayflower...it would save us lots of time learning on our own...  

Good job.

Bob

[tommy6]

Two things i noted:
1. Short fades put alot of stress at the riser/ limb junction, so make the limbs bend more toward mid limb or tips and less at the fades. If you look at the riser drawing that Binghams sells, they do look short and fat, but that is the cut out shape and require you to sand the fade down. A good guideline is paper thin at the end of the fade tapering smoothly to 1/16" thick at 1", 1/8" at 2" and 1/4" at 2" or 3".
2. If you see a problem with the bend of the limbs DO NOT bend it further. Fix it first. Also, when tillering, never draw the bow further than your draw length or desired draw weight. For example, If you want 50lb at 28" and you hit 50lb at 12", obviously its too heavy and the limbs need to be lightened up. Its usually better to thin the width or length of the limb than the thickness to change tiller in fibreglass bows. You can do this by narrowing the whole limb or by trapping the back. Sanding the fibre glass,should be approached the way you would approach drinking whiskey: Do so in moderation!

[walkabout]

a good way to get an idea of stiff spots in the limbs is to run a piece of string from the limb tips to the back side of the riser where it sits in the tillering tree. the straight line shows where the bends are nice and where they arent. also i agree you need to go inch by inch when tillering, or youll have failures. a tillering gizmo will also help when you cant see what needs sanded and what doesnt. one of the last pictures you posted looked like the left limb was bending alot right out of the fades and not very much at all out the rest of the limb, this could have helped contribute to the delamination. good luck on your next one,keep us posted of any questions. as they say "rome wasnt built in a day"