Hickory ELB finished pics

[okie64]

This is a hickory elb I'm almost done with. It was pulling 50# at 28" and took about 1.5" set. I heat treated in 2 inches of reflex and havent gotten a chance to work on it anymore. Still waitin on it to recover. Its super skinny, 1" wide in the middle and only 3/4" wide at midlimb. I hope it makes it. Any comments on the tiller?                

[hova]

kinda hard to tell if its just the angle , but the left outer third looks like it might have a slight hinge. like i said it might just be the angle.


looks really nice though...

-hov

[KellyG]

Did it make it?

[okie64]

I havent worked on it any more yet. Its been really cold here all week. The bow has been sittin in the bathroom all week with a humidity meter next to it but the meter hasnt read above 25% all week. Im kind of afraid it might still be too dry? Might give it a few more days. What do yall think?

[Art B]

That 25% humidity is pretty low. Probably equates to around 5 1/2% MC in the wood. I have to run a humidifier around the clock just to keep my bows at 8% MC this time of year. That amount of weight with the limb dimensions you mentioned you may want to get the bow's MC up a little higher I would think.........Art

[okie64]

Yeah I'll probably wait a little longer. I did get a string on it today. I didnt pull it back I just kind of wanted to see what the poundage felt like while stringin it. It felt like it gained a lot of weight, I mean like 15-20 lbs. Ive heat treated bows before and never had them gain more than 8-10lbs even with added reflex. When I finished tillering this bow before heat treating I had my brace height about 5 inches, used the same string today and within 30 seconds after stringin it the string was layin flat against the belly. I know the string was alittle too long to start with and I had it twisted up but I didnt think it would stretch that much. Anybody else ever had that happen?

[okie64]

I got it pulled back to 50# at 25". Im tryin to decide whether to tiller it back to 50# or pull it to 28" and see where its at. I thought the tiller looked ok. It holds 1.25" of reflex when unstrung. Any suggestions?

[Pat B]

What draw length will you be pulling it to? I like to tiller an inch over the ultimate draw length just for insurance.
 The bow is bending well in this pic. I'd pull it a little farther and see if it holds that tiller. You could get a little more bend in the outter 1/3 of the right limb.

[okie64]

My draw is 28.5". I thought the limb on the right looked a little stiffer too but when I measure it at brace height the left one is about 1/8" stiffer. I'll take a couple swipes off the outer 1/3 of the right one and go from there.

[Pat B]

With selfbows a brace height measurement don't mean much to me. The wood is generally too irregular to get a precise measurement. The only place to tell good tiller is at full draw and your drawn pic shows stiff outter right limb. Try drawing the bow yourself and have someone else take your pic. That can be a bit different too.

[okie64]

Took a few swipes off the right limb and exercised it. Look any better?

[vanillabear?]

[okie64]

Well I screwed this one up. After I studied the picture above for awhile I decided to go ahead and pull it to 28" and see where I was at. It hit 60# at 28" and pulled a splinter up about 14 inches from the tip on the edge of the left limb. Shouldve tillered it back to 50# I guess. Im wandering if I could wrap sinew or string over the splinter and glue it down or is that going to create a hinge in that spot? Has anyone tried this before? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. By the way I have no experience with sinew so if I could use something else like maybe dental floss or something like that it would be a whole lot easier.

[vanillabear?]

[Pat B]

You can add super glue under the splinter and clamp it. After it has cured use unwaxed dental floss and make a tight wrap then set it in super glue.

[KellyG]

Did you round your edges on the back?

[okie64]

The dental floss and superglue worked! Got it down to 50# at 27" before my hands got to cold to work on it anymore. It still holds about 1.25" of reflex when unstrung. Thanks alot for the advice guys. Yall saved this one.

[Jason Jelinek]

What are you dimensions on this bow?  Thickness and width at the center, thickness and width at the tips?

[okie64]

Its 68" long, 1"wide x 3/4"thick at center, 3/4"wide x 9/16" thick at midlimb, 3/8"wide x 7/16" thick at tips.

[KellyG]

looks good