Set in the limbs

[BigErn]

I'm just about finish tillering my bow,(red oak,hickory backed board bow)been
working with the limbs off and on for two weeks.I noticed it has about a little over one inch of set in both limbs.Is this something i should expect,or is it a bad thing?
                                Ernie

[okie64]

Set Happens. Nothing wrong with an inch of set.

[BigErn]

Are some woods(or combinations of woods) more susceptible to set,than others?
                              Ernie

[Nim-rod]

I've experienced set in all my bows so far running about 2" with the hickory and 3" with ash and 1" with maple. With the maple though one side of the tree gave a set of only an inch and the other side was like 5". Wood can vary ALOT even within a singel tree let alone different species. This is why I do at least a gentle flip of the tips to all my bows. Even if it ends up with 1" of set in the end it doesn't seem it when you just look at it.

[Nim-rod]

Oh and don't worry about 1" of set. Cast is only really robbed at 3" (according to most books i've read). I have an ash with 3" of set and I don't like the looks of that but it seems to shoot just fine and plenty quick.

[BigErn]

When you say-flip the tips,do you mean,switching ends of the bow?Top limb becomes the bottom limb?
                                Ernie

[Roy from Pa]

No Ernie, it's when you heat the last say 6 to 8 inches of a limb tip and bend it backwards into a recurve look. You do this and clamp the tip down and when it cools, it retains that shape.

[30coupe]

Originally posted by BigErn:
When you say-flip the tips,do you mean,switching ends of the bow?Top limb becomes the bottom limb?
                                Ernie

No it means adding a bit of reflex at the end. Kind of like a static recurve tip.

One inch is not bad at all though. My hickory board bow has about 2 1/4" of set, but it shoots great. A little bit of string follow is not a bad thing. I'd just be happy and shoot the heck out of it. That's what I plan to do with mine!

[jsweka]

Even my straight limbed glass laminated longbows with take about 1/2" set.  I wouldn't worry about it.  Some Hill style bowyers build in some string follow on purpose.

[BigErn]

Thanks everyone,
  I learning,it might take a while,but i'll
get there!
                                Ernie

[Nim-rod]

I don't know if I'm correct or not but when I see "flipped tips" I think of a gentle curve and the string does not touch the limbs and when I see "recurved tips" I think of a more dramatic curve where the string actually touches the limb a bit at brace. Are they actually the same?

[30coupe]

Here is an example of flipped tips.



I borrowed this from Balding Kansan's post. I don't think he'd mind sharing.

[30coupe]

Oops! Double post.