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Question about floor tillering and making target weight with heavier bows

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Del the cat:
Heavy bows are tricky, I can't imagine that it's even possible to floor tiller! If you can flex it enought to see the bend, then it's probably already too weak!
Like Badger says, you need to keep with the long string until it's coming back a good way. Even then you may need a winch to brace it!
Any stave with reflex becomes a nightmare, behaving exactly as you have described, ridiculously hard to brace and then dissapointing.
You need good wood, a long stave and nerves of steel!
Good luck
Del

Sandsquid:
Thanks for your replies.  I know some of my earlier problems were design issues.  I was too short, too narrow, and tapered the width too quickly.  I was originally working with slippery elm which I am confident would make a good heavy weight ELB.  Problem is I ran out of staves and have not been able to source more.  I had some hickory I was working with.  All the staves were from the same log and were just not very good.  After drying they all took deflex in one end of the stave.  I'm thinking it had something to do with the growth rings.  The outer 10 rings were almost paper thin.  I ended up chasing a ring on every stave I worked with to get to good rings.  Even after I steamed the staves straight, it seemed like only the original deflexed half wanted to bend.  I did make a couple of bows that I do shoot.  They are just slow and ugly.   

I'll spend more time with long string and not be in a hurry to get the bow braced going forward.  We will see were I get with this mulberry.  I'm worried about the right limb.  There is a little bit of an s bend in the mid limb.  It was bending more than it should there and is starting to twist a little.  I originally set this stave aside because of all the straightening I had to do on that limb.     

bradsmith2010:
ok also, its not all about how it looks,, if it bending evenly,, even with set,, it should shoot well,,,

Selfbowman:

--- Quote from: Badger on September 08, 2022, 05:28:37 pm ---   You don't have to guess at it at all. When you are tillering the bow and using the long string read it just as if the bow were braced. It does not change much when you brace it. So if you want 120# @30" then pull the bow to 120# each time and just keep correcting the tiller until you get to 28". Once you get there you can brace it and finish tillering. If the bow starts taking too much set on the way you will need to lower your target weight.

--- End quote ---

This !

willie:

--- Quote --- Even after I steamed the staves straight, it seemed like only the original deflexed half wanted to bend
--- End quote ---
steam bending works well for sideways corrections or flipping non-bending tips, but if you remove deflex (or add reflex) to a working section of a limb and it pulls out is not unexpected.

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