Thoughts on my second bow so far? (Elm pyramid) done tillering

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

I finished the tiller in my opinion, you guys probably Will see some flaws but for my second one ik happy with it. This one is atleast not under the weight i hoped for. I Just got a scale since yesterday and it pulled on a scale for humans on a tiller stick 30 kilo( wich is about 66 lbs) at 24 inch draw. I did shoot An Arrow and missed the target (not that i evver shot a bow before but i think it is because of too stiff Arrow ) but i could barely pull the point out of a tree

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

Here is a picture of the first flemish string i made, one loop and a bowyers knot still, going to make the second loop after i found the correct lenght

[aaron]

It looks like you may have cut through the back to make the string nocks- did you? If so, don't do that again- it may cause the bow to break. If you did cut the back, you may want to re-do the tips. (shorten the bow by an inch and retiller a little. Also, the tiller is pretty stiff in the outer limbs- a pyramid is typically tillered to bend evenly through out it's length. Good job getting a shooter, though. Welcome to the Journey!

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

Isnt that the way to do It (the string nock)? Or should i have used side nocks? I always was Thinking that tip overlays are only for real Skinny tips. I dont got Anny Horn or what evver, would It make a difference if i put a few thin layers of hide glue on It so the string doesn't cut in the tips farther?

[aaron]

No, thats not how to do it. Im pretty surprised no one noticed this. Side cuts are ok, but never across the back. You can cut thru a tip overlay but not into the back. I dont think glue will help. Sorrry to break itto you, but in my opinion you have to shorten and retiller. This wont be too hard and it will let you get the outers working more. I hope someone else will chime in on this.

[Deerhunter21]

No, thats not how to do it. Im pretty surprised no one noticed this. Side cuts are ok, but never across the back. You can cut thru a tip overlay but not into the back. I dont think glue will help. Sorrry to break itto you, but in my opinion you have to shorten and retiller. This wont be too hard and it will let you get the outers working more. I hope someone else will chime in on this.

Yeah... maybe add an overlay??? you would need to do some stuff that i know, but i really have a super hard time explaining stuff.

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

Would stacked rawhide be a good option? And what glue would be good? Hide glue or Carpenter glue?

[maitus]

I would use Carpenter glue for no sinew backing. Its easier to use

[DC]

Any hard wood will work for an overlay. Chose one with a contrasting colour make the glue joint easier. Depending on how deep you cut you grooves you may not have to shorten the bow. Excuse the poor drawing black is old, red is new overlay.

[Eric Garza]

No, thats not how to do it. Im pretty surprised no one noticed this. Side cuts are ok, but never across the back.

I disagree. I have made bows with nocks cut like this and they were fine. For a splinter to lift the wood needs to be bending. If you tiller the bow so the last 6+ inches do not bend, the wood right at the tips where the nocks are will not be under strain and there will be no reason for a splinter to lift. I suspect these nocks will be fine left just as they are.

[PEARL DRUMS]

It doesn't have to bend to separate at the groove. For a fun experiment, try this. Grab a 1 x 1 x 24" piece of pine board with mostly straight grain. Tie a small rope around one end and tie the other end to anything strong. Pull on it like a fishing rod with a fish on the end, give it 15-20# of pressure, it wont break easily. Now, cut a small notch out of the end of that stick and tie the string to that portion and pull. It will separate almost instantly. That's why we use overlays or just cut grooves in the sides only. The way I see it, we strive throughout a build to make the most durable bow we can, why cut corners with string grooves? It would be a shame to have a great bow split because you cut one corner in the build.

[aaron]

I think DC's picture above is the best approach to this. Note that this involves an angled cut in the bow tip. Eric has had success with bows made this way, and I'm surprised they held- I guess I learned something today. Ultimately, it's up to you. If you so some searches on here you will find many types of nocks, but I bet you'd have trouble finding any cut across the back.

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

Thanks for all the answers, im working on tip overlays from black locust. Now testing 3 kinds of glue, contact glue ,carpenters glue and hide glue.

@DC is there Anny advantage of cutting the tips at An angle for the overlays or is It Just for the looks? As i der It its kind of the same as i have now because you also damage the back. Thank you annyways for the illustration. In sure the bow can handle the shorter lenght because i Will tiller It so a bit more limb Will bend. Pics comming in a fiew days , as i Will first test the glues before i try It on my bow. Between this time il going to unbend some sticks  (shafts)

[DC]

In a lot of cases I think the angle is for looks but in your's its a way of keeping length. I always thought like you did that the angle was the same as cutting a notch but it's not. That flat bottom of the overlay holds down the potential splinter is about the best I can put it.
  On a normal selfbow there is a crown and to avoid the possibility of splintering it has to be cut at least a shallow angle so the overlay captures all the "fibre ends". Almost the only time you could have the overlay flat on the back is with a board bow.
Hope that's clear. Didn't sound very clear to me

[PatM]

This bow is Elm which tends to not want to split very easily.