Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: (bow)Hunter on August 11, 2014, 07:24:34 pm
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This is my 3rd bow and I'm shooting for #50-60 pounds at 30 inches, my first two cracked while tillering (rookie mistakes) so I'm really hoping this one works. I'm going for a pyramid style with hickory. Half inch thick with 1.75 inches at the fades, probably 66 in NTN. Unfortunately while thinning out to get to half an inch, my drawknife picked up a big chunk and I'm hoping it's still salvageable... Any help would be awesome, still relatively new to self-bowing and I really want to make one that I can actually shoot!
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Post pics please. A rasp would be a better choice for reducing the thickness than a draw knife. IMO
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My photo isn't attaching does anyone know how to get smaller resolution I guess?... It's three gashes mid-limb in the bow each about 1/16th inch deep, <1/8 inch wide and 1.5 inches long
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you can do an eiffle tower type of taper.
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If the gashes are running longwise instead of across the limb it may not affect performance but look a little bad. Instead of going for a thickess I would recomend you remove wood to meet the tiller you are looking for. A rasp would be a good choice of tools right now, I like a spokeshave for hickory and a rasp.
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Make sure you have bevel down on your draw knife, it will help avoid tear outs.
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Badger! You hit the nail on the head, that's the term I was looking for... So do you mean turning the drawknife upside-down? Yes and they are running longwise. Thank you for the advice!
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also, with a drawknife, if the knife is cutting deep and tearing out wood, then turn yourself around 180 degrees and try to draw it the other direction. I screwed up a couple of boards because I didn't pay attention to the way the grain was running and I didn't turn around. My guess is that the grain will either force the knife "up" and allow for nice shallow draws and long curls, or "down" and dig the knife in, causing tear outs.
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Too short at 66" for a 30" draw.
Sidmand is right on. If the dknife cuts deep turn yourself around and attack the wood from the other side.
Never used a dknife bevel down.
Also, the grain has to be really straight on a board stressed so much.
Jawge
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Jawge, is there anyway I could fix that? I'm 19 and have really lengthy arms haha, could I maybe have a really low brace height? I'm guessing that would compromise some draw weight though? Really any help would be great since I'm still a beginner, I'll post some pictures when I can figure out how to get them smaller size (they're like 900 KB) and any constructive criticism would be awesome as well
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Tiller that bow out to 28" and do the best tillering job you can after making the repair. Don't worry about the weight on this one, learn from your mistake and make the best of the situation. Your next bow will be better than this one if you do your part.
If your draw length is truly 30" make your bows at least 68" and 70" would be better. After you have built a few bows you will probably be able drop the length some and even shorten your draw length by changing your shooting style if you decided to go that route.
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bowhunter, I agree with Pat. Tiller to 28" and enjoy. Even 28" is a stretch for a newcomer.
Start another.
Jawge
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Just curious, how tall are you?
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Badger - I'm 6'1!
Another question... It's a board bow so all my edges are sharp right now, should I round the bow out (besides the handle) before I start tillering..? Or will that not make a difference?
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I continually round edges as I tiller along. When the edges get sharp I round them. It might net be necessary on the belly but I do it anyway.
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I also round everything before tillering, one of my bows did broke yet because of a sharp edge!
To the drawknife: I also tiller with my small drawknife, its one of the best tools if you can handle it.
My father is carpenter, so i've been working with it since i was little child.
Its also important that your drawknife is always sharp!
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I share your challenges with long draw length.
Also, I tend to feel like there are two camps of bow performance, assuming good choice of bow style for the wood selected. First there are bows crafted for absolute speed. Second there are bows crafted for absolute durability. Every bow lies somewhere between these two camps with one parameter coming at the cost of the other.
If I am looking to make a bow that will be very durable at 30" draw, I tend to aim for a 71" ntn length. Can you get away with shorter? Of course you can. Can you make a super durable bow for that draw length that is shorter? Of course you can.
That brings me to the third factor. That is quality of tiller, which comes down to your skill. The higher your skill, the closer you can push to the speed performance side of things without compromising durability. If you are still new to the tillering process and tend to get some unevenness in your tillering, you will have to compensate for it by leaning towards the durability side or your bows will be quite short lived.
As has been said, your skills will improve and in doing so, allow you to increase speed performance by doing things like using shorter, lighter limbs, etc.
On another note, from my experiences, rounding the edges after making adjustments and putting it back on the tree works well for preventing lifting and splits. Also, slow is your friend. Take your time. Your eyes and hands can get tired after going round after round with your bow during tillering and it is easy to just rush a step or not see a hinge after working and staring at it for a while. That usually ends with your bow being fire wood. I have had some bows where the only thing I have done during an evening of working was sand off a couple of rough edges and then call it quits because I knew my eyes were letting me down on assessing my tillering progress.
In the meantime, learn from this one, and as has been mentioned, try a shorter draw length on it. If you really do draw 30", perhaps mark an arrow at a 28" draw so you have a visual marker when shooting. It will help prevent over draw until you define a shorter draw technique. I change my anchor from the tip of my thumb at the corner of my mouth to the largest knuckle of my thumb at the corner of my mouth. It works pretty well for me (may not work for everyone).
Good luck.
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Sharp edges concentrate stress so you should avoid them. That being said, if the bow is already so close to breaking that the stress concentration of a sharp edge is all it takes to put it over the breaking point, then it was probably already doomed IMHO. Also I've cut myself a few times on sharp edges of hardwood, so its just good practice to smooth things out as you work on them.
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You may find that a 30" draw with a compound will at least be a few inches less with a selfbow.
I drew a recurve 29" and pull a selfbow around 26". No experience with compounds.
Here check this out. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/index.html
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uhmmmm.... Is this going to be an issue? *cries*
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Once I get to floor tiller stage I keep the bow in an almost finished condition from that point on.
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looks like you should be able to work around that,,, a rasp would be good