Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Deo on May 25, 2012, 04:50:34 pm
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I am tillering a south eastern style hickory D-bow. Everything was going great, the bow was tillered out to 50 lbs @ 26 inches of draw and shootn good too. When i unstrung the bow hand 3 inches of set and i was dumbfounded So i stoped there. It apears to take most of the set in the middle, my question is did i take too much wood from the middle?
The other issue is i did steam that area of the bow to straighten it, could that of created a weak spot?
thank you
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Yup. You found your own error. Thats cool. Just guessing w/o pics. Your handle is working a tad too much. Your steam session didnt hurt anything as long as you let it cool and sit for a bit before bending on it. You could use dry heat to get it back where you want it. Then use some type of natural fiber string to wrap the center 10" firmly. Then set in a quality wood glue. Keep giving it glue until it wont soak anymore up. Let it sit for at least one week. Wood glues dont dry well when they are sealed off from air. It takes some time.
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Bend the bow in a reflex and toast the belly with a heat gun. You will have to adjust the tiller but this procedure should cure most of your string follow. I have done this 3 or 4 times with good results every time, even on mist treated bows that I thought couldn't be saved.
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When I build a bendy handle bow I like to get the mid limbs bending well and get close to final tiller then work the bend back into the handle area. Because of the length of the limbs the leverage stresses are greatest at the handle. If you try to tiller the handle area while tillering the limbs they will almost always be overstressed and cause set at the handle area.
Eric's suggestion is a good one. I'd clamp the bow in a caul with the back down and really toast the belly to a chocolate brown color. After you do that let the toasted bow stay in the caul for a week to rehydrate and get used to its reflex. ;)
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Thank you for the help,
Do i retiller the bow first then put reflex into the bow or do i do it the other way around?
How much reflex should i put into the bow? I am thinking about 2 to 3 inches.
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Tiller after you heat treat and reflex ,2 or 3 inches would be all I would put in it. Let us know how it turns out. :) :)
Pappy