Main Discussion Area > English Warbow
Black cherry recommendations, And boom she goes
Mo_coon-catcher:
I finally got around to getting it to bend. I think I've got it ready to brace up. I've pulled the tips far back about 7" from the back of the bow. With the long string I was using has it pulling 100# at 25". I know the tiller will shift a bit when going from long string to full brace. But any one see anything that needs a bit of tweaking before bracing and pulling further?
Thanks,
Kyle
Mo_coon-catcher:
The other day I got it braced up and started pulling back. The first time on the tree I only pulled it up to about 20", about 70#, and checked for any signs of damage. Every thing looked good, no splinter, set, or fretting. So back on the tree and I started to inch it on up to 100#. To me nothing in the bend stood out, but apparently the price of cherry didn't want to take the stress, as soon as I touched 100# i got a nice bang and a bunch of shrapnel. Atleast it made it back to a 25-26" draw before letting go. I've got several more stages of similar length and straitness. So I'll tweak the design a bit with some paper backing to see if a liitle extra help in tension will let it survive. If not I'll keep tweaking to see how heavy I can push cherry until it quits exploding.
I did manage to get a video of the failure, it was definitely worth videoing. I'll see if I can get it off my phone.
Kyle
WillS:
Rats, that's a bummer! Sorry it didn't work out.
You can see from your recent pictures that it's doing an awful lot of bending in the middle of each limb, and none in the handle or tips. I tend to find that when tillering something I'm not sure about getting the whole thing evenly stressed as soon as possible is a good way to avoid potential failures. The handle definitely could have been working a lot more, to help distribute the strain.
Regardless, it'll be interesting to see if you can get it to work with a different stave. Good luck!
Mo_coon-catcher:
Thanks for te advice. I see what you mean now that I have it pointed out. I wonder if I had the handle bending appropriately and the tips too if if would've held up for the extra 7" of draw it needed. On the next try I'll get the tiller a bit more rounded and get it a bit closer to full draw weight before bracing. See if that reduced strain will get closer.
Kyle
meanewood:
I agree with Will about getting those stresses evened out early.
If your working with a wood you know, your experience can allow you wait for that center to come round.
When aiming for a heavy draw weight but not knowing if it can handle the stress, every inch of the bows needs to be doing its bit!
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