2nd bow - need tiller help - final tiller pic & video

[Jomohr84]

Hey all,

Just started tillering my second longbow, and wanted some input before I start removing too much wood. This pic is on the long string, drawn 5 inches on the tree. Am wondering if it is bending enough at the fades and how much more movement before low brace. My first bow was stiff at the fades and came in below weight, so I want to avoid that this time.
     

In the pic it looks pretty stiff, but up close I an see the wood working near the fades.
Thanks for any input

[beetlebailey1977]

Looks pretty even there.....

[John Scifres]

You seem stiff at the near handle.  Most of the bend is midlimb.  It really hard to tell anything yet though.  Pull it a little more.

[Roy from Pa]

Like John said, the areas outside of the fades need to bend more. It looks like your tillering string is really long too. I would shorten it up so it is snug up against the belly when you string the bow. A shorter string is going to make the outer limbs bend even more.

[Jomohr84]

Thanks a ton for the input guys, it's greatly appreciated. I will work on the inner limbs and shorten up the tiller string and see how it goes.

[Roy from Pa]

Jon, not sure if you have heard of the tillering gizmo, but it is a great tool for tillering wooden bows. Here is a link to it..
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000075;p=1

[Jomohr84]

Sure did, made a 6" and 4" gizmo for my first bow, but my first bow had stiff inner limbs near the fades, I guess since the gizmo rides up the fades.  Thanks for mentioning it, I found that it did an amazing job of getting the rest of the limbs bending evenly. I need to train my eye to get the area near the fades bending correctly.

[Jomohr84]

So I've got the long string very short, and tiller looks pretty even moving about 10" reading 35-40#, should I full brace it or low brace it to continue tillering? I'll try to post some pics tonight.

[WestTexan]

I would low brace about 1 to 2 inches and see what it looks like. The long string seems to bend the tips more and not even down the limbs.

[Jomohr84]

Well, I did what I see suggested a lot on these types of threads and just did it. Tillered it out to 53# @ 28". Let me know what you think of the tiller, it looks good to me, but again this is my second bow, so I'm still trying to cultivate an eye for tillering.
     I cut in a shallow rest and shot it about 30 times, and it shot nicely. Now I just need to finish it when I get time.

 

Here is a video of me shooting it:

 Shooting Second Bow  

Thanks to everyone for the help, and let me know  if there is something I should have done differently with the tiller.

[dmikeyj]

In the video, it looks like that upper limb could use a few scrapes in the midlimb area.  It looks like a smooth bend though, and pretty darn good for a second bow.

[BassBow]

Looks great man. Nice work!