Thank you for the compliment Mike. I decided to give the hat a day off.
Thank you Ron. She's a sweetheart to shoot. I think Nicole will like it.
Thank you riarcher.
Thank you Frank. It is always good to hear from you.
Keenan, you are much too kind. I do hope Jeb and Nicole are pleased with their bows.
Thank you bowkee.
Thank you Charles. The "no set" method of tillering is described by Steve Gardner in the Traditional Bowyers Bible Volume 4.
You can also find a description in the link that Lombard provided above.
Thank you Dana - I hope so.
Thank you for the compliment Cooper.
Thank you Roger. I enjoyed looking at your gallery of work. You are one very talented artist!
Thank you George - that means a lot coming from you.
Thank you Tim. I used to think you had to exercise the limbs a good deal to register the wood removal. I'm not so sure about that after using Steve's method.I still run all my bows through a stress test after they are tillered and that includes long periods of being braced.
Thank you for your kind words barebo. I am quite particular about the finish on my bows. I suppose I got that from my father who was a master cabinet maker and would never settle for anything less than perfection. I’m not as obsessive as he was, but something rubbed off. Achieving a nice finish does not require as much work as it may seem. What is required is a bit of discipline and attention to detail. I remove all readily visible tool marks by the time the bow is first braced. The bow is completely sanded to 100 grit by the time it is within 2 inches of final draw length. At 1 inch I take the bow outside and in natural light inspect it carefully for any minute tool marks. After removing these, I sand to 150 grit. When I hit weight, I take it outside one more time to remove any tool marks from the sides or belly that may have been introduced during the final stages of tillering. Then I sand to 220 grit, stain, sand again, stain again, rub, and then apply the finish. One more thing, small tool marks are best removed with a good scraper – I use a sharp knife.
Thank you for the nice compliment sailordad.
Thank you Lombard, and thanks for finding that link.
Thank you Hatch. I’ll often scrape the belly while the bow is braced in the final stages of tillering when I am making fairly small alterations.