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Newbie Ash backed red Elm bow - need a hand with tillering

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dobson:
Hey guys I could do with some help tillering my new bow. In the past I have always, always made a hash of  tillering, especially with a long string so hopefully with a few second opinions I hope not to rush into any mistakes!

So far its belly has been roughed out into a D, the back has been rounded on the edges and it bends slightly in floor tiller. I am aiming for anything between 45- 60 pounds at 28 inches, The bow measures just above 72 inches. This is my very first try with my new tiller tree:

Bow at tension (6 inches)


At 10 inches (4 Inches if you take away the slack)


To me the left limb (bottom) is bending far more than the right but as said any advice is more than welcome

Cheers

Liam

adb:
Have you rounded off the back of the stave yet? If not... that should be the first thing you do. Next, continue to floor tiller, and get rid of the long string! A long string to me is one that is the same length as the bow.

Also, you haven't told us anything about how long your stave is, and what you're trying to end up with. You never want to draw your stave past final length and weight. Are you using some sort of scale, or just guessing?

For me, I get the middle of the bow moving first, and then bring the tips around last. If you do it the other way, you might end up whip tillered, with a lot of set.

In your pics, your stave is not really bending at all.

adb:
This is what my last warbow looked like on the tiller... maple backed yew, 90#@30", 76" ntn, bottom limb on the left.

dobson:
Thanks for the reply and pictures! Yes the back has been rounded, I have edited my original post to avoid confusion but the bow measures just over 72 inches I'm aiming as high as I'm trying to keep the draw weight as high as I can get but ill be happy with 45 - 60 pounds at 28 inches.

at the 4 inches of draw the bow was pulling 20 pounds, the scale is not in the picture.

The string is fairly long because of the block in the tillering tree, If I had a shorter string it would be under tension before I used the pulley to pull it down.

DarkSoul:
Your string length is fine at this stage, but don't use it too long. When you get six inches of tip deflection (not draw length) you should switch to a short(er) string.

Although the bow is only pulled a few inches in that pic, you can still see  clear weak spot (future hinge) in that left limb. About 12 to 14 inches from the tip. I think I can even see a thin spot there. Run your fingers along the length of the bow and feel the thickness taper. Are there any thick or thin spots? A caliper will tell you for sure and tells you if the right limb is matched in thickness. Remove wood from the entire length of the bow, except for that hingey area. Only pull it further when you can no longer see that hinge.

By the way, you posted this in the 'warbow' section, whilst this bow does not look like one. You desired draw weight is also too low to qualify as a true warbow. You would you gotten more views and replies if you posted this topic in the regular bows section. Perhaps an admin/mod can move it.

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