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Is it normal/ what do I do about it?

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Pat B:
Are you exercising the limbs after each wood removal. I do this even if the limb tips only move an inch or 2 but not beyond the bend you are at. You have to educate the wood to bend and recover evenly and together.
 I do use a long string until I get to low brace height. Once at low brace you can truly see if both limbs are in fact bending evenly and together.

superdav95:
I still use a fairly tight long string with some builds.  I personally still see some value in them for some of the more challenging staves or wonky pieces of wood.  I find that on these pieces it helps to see the bend a little better without getting too far gone.  I’m not saying it isn’t possible to floor tiller a wonky stave just fine but not everyone has the same experience and or skill to floor tiller such wonky pieces of wood.  You can creep up on consistency in bend easier using long string on challenging staves.  I use the yard stick method when using the long string on a tiller stick.  I find that it’s easier to make big mistakes floor tiller especially as new bowyers.  It’s easy to over stressing one side over the other or not seeing a potential issue viewing the bend from an angle while floor tillering.  I use both methods just fine but all I’m saying here is for new builders with some character bows or just getting used to seeing bend the long string can be of value.  I would encourage them as time goes to gravitate to floor tiller to brace method when they are feeling ready or not too concerned about breaking bows and getting some experience on the limits of the wood.   I use both.  Just my thoughts on it.   

Sandsquid:
Just my two cents.  I been making heavy weight ELBs.  I was having same problem you are having.  I tried what everyone else mentioned here.  Taking the bow to brace as soon as possible.  This is not an easy task with a bow intended to be over 100 lbs.  If I did manage to get it strung, I often ended up with limb twist or hinges.  Then I ended up having to remove more material than I wanted to correct the problems I had.  I started tillering with the long string to at least 26 inches.  Sometimes further if things did not look right to me.  There is now a lot less cursing while tillering. 

The other thing that took me some time to wrap my head around is that the limb tip moving the farthest distance is usually on the stiffer limb of a bendy handle bow.  The stiff limb pulls down more when you are tillering.  I would often remove material from the week limb and make things worse.  I would agree with everyone else that it is more obvious what limb is week when you brace the bow.  I just had no luck bracing early with the bows I am making.         

superdav95:

--- Quote from: Pat B on July 14, 2024, 10:48:55 am ---Are you exercising the limbs after each wood removal. I do this even if the limb tips only move an inch or 2 but not beyond the bend you are at. You have to educate the wood to bend and recover evenly and together.
 I do use a long string until I get to low brace height. Once at low brace you can truly see if both limbs are in fact bending evenly and together.

--- End quote ---

Well said

Jim Davis:
I agree with lebhuntfish. I've been making bows for almost  30 years and haven't used a long string for at least 25 years--floor tiller, then brace.

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