limb syncronizing question

[Echatham]

i use the vertical line method like Roy and Bowjunkie taught me,  but a bow i had on my tree raised a question for me.  if because of the character of a stave, the handle is not parallel to the string when at brace, i.e. if when you place your straight handle on a level cradle, the string is not horizontal, its gonna throw you off and you gotta compensate for it right?  the bow in question  was deflexed out of the top limb and reflexed out of the bottom.  had it at about even tiller and when placed on the cradle the bottom limb tip was probably 3" higher than the top.  so it wanted to stray from the vertical line towards the bottom limb.  we put a wedge under the bow handle on the cradle to make the string horizontal as a starting point, and now im able to get the string to track vertical.

so am i correct in my assumption that in order to use the vertical line method to time the limbs, the string needs to be perfectly horizontal when the braced bow is on the cradle?

hope all that made sense to someone besides me    

[George Tsoukalas]

I go out and shoot. I can tell how the limbs are drawing and returning. On your initial shots just pay attention to how even the pressure on the handle is on drawing and releasing.
Is the bow tipping and rocking? Or is the arrow away with a nice quite, even push.
Use our sense of  touch.
Jawge

[Echatham]

I'll tell ya George, thats not the first time ive been told that.  maybe my sense of touch isn't refined enough.  but ive taken bows and flipped them over, and drawn bows that were way out of tiller, and i just can't feel the difference.  i can hear and feel the difference on the shot though.

[George Tsoukalas]

If you are using a rope and pulley as you let down you can see if the handle is rocking. If it is they are not timed, E. You are correct. Character bows are tillered by art and feel. Jawge

[Bowjunkie]

Jawge, he can't just go out and shoot. The bow's not done yet  

Eric, whether the string is level is irrelevent. Let me ask you this... Is the string level in the tree if a bow ends up with 1/4" positive tiller? No, it isn't, and that's fine.

The handle should be level in the tree, and then we use the same gauge to judge limb timing as any other bow. i.e. how the hook tracks the line... or whether the bow tips if we're using a cradle that allows it.

You asked, "if when you place your straight handle on a level cradle, the string is not horizontal, its gonna throw you off and you gotta compensate for it right?"

No, I don't care if the string starts off being level. In a bow with one limb deflexed and the other reflexed, I expect the string to NOT be level... just as I would expect the resulting tiller profile to NOT be equal.

I want the handle setting in the tree how I'll hold it, and then the limbs timed so the hook follows the line that was drawn perpendicular to the cradle/handle.

If I lift one side of the handle with a wedge, tiller/time the bow on the tree, then when it's all done, draw it by hand withOUT the wedge... will the limbs still be syncronized?

[George Tsoukalas]

OH LOL, Bowjunkie.
Then see my second post.
Jawge

[George Tsoukalas]

No, they won't be synchronized if a wedge is used. I stopped doing that years ago. Jawge

[George Tsoukalas]

I do a straight handle until full draw for that reason.
Staves with slanted handle and different limb entry points make for a bit if a challenge.

Patience.

Jawge

[Echatham]

the bow isn't mine, a buddy brought it over for me to help him tiller.  id show you a picture of the actual bow but its not here... so here is a crude drawing.  the handle is such that he's just gonna have to shoot with a high wrist... thats why the wedge seemed appropriate.  we got it tillered to about 14" using the wedge before he had to take off.

[George Tsoukalas]

That's a tough tiller. I can see why you'd want to use a wedge.    Jawge

[Bowjunkie]

Yeah, that's a crazy one for sure :^)

[Roy from Pa]

That would be fire wood in my shop...

[Echatham]

my drawing is a little more extreme than the actual bow, but i just wanted to illustrate the geometry im talking about.

[Roy from Pa]

It does look like some of your bows...    

[Echatham]

looks kinda like my first couple ill give you that.

[Roy from Pa]