keep breaking on tillering stick

[recurve shooter]

i broke like the 4th bow yesterday on the tillering stick. how do i keep from doing this? it is REALY starting to anoy me. 

[El Destructo]

                                                Quit Bending them so far before they are ready!!!!!!!!!

                                                                                   

[Pat B]

Slow down and think about every scrape you make on the stave. If you keep doing the same thing with not so good results, rethink your next move.     Pat

[JackCrafty]

Use hickory.

[recurve shooter]

yeah, thats what i thought. i got to start being more patient. i ruend a really cool snakey bow yesterday and it really made me mad.

and jackcrafty: hickory is my favorite wood, unfortunatly, due to logging years ago, there aint much of it left down here. send me a stave and i'll make it shoot!!

[JackCrafty]

Dang, Recurve Shooter....it's a shame about the logging.  However, being a scavenger of neighborhood woodpiles, I can't believe you ain't got no tree-slaughterin' neighbors?  We got plenty around here (mostly mesquite and mulberry though).

[recurve shooter]

lol. i have heard that mullberry is better than hickory, but i dont believe it.  most of the tree murderers around here just kill the junk bushes around the edge of the yard. no good wood. i got to go murder that myself. the two bows i messed up this weekend were persimon (or dogwood, not sure which) and pecan. i got over anxeous with the drawknife and the pecan developed a hinge. the percimon was comeing nicely, but i was checking it on my tillering stick and it broke. it sucks. i got a trucklode of oaks around here, i guess i'll start messing with them. well, thanx guys. looks like i just need to go a little slower.

[radius]

i think if you are tillering with a drawknife...that might be a biig part of the problem.   I think the idea is to use the drawknife to get the stave into shape, then use a rasp and scraper to turn it into a bow...

and other than that, i agree with what El Destructo said:  don't bend it so far until it's ready...

[recurve shooter]

yeah, i need a rasp. what brand and type to yall recomend?

[mullet]

  Another thing is you need to sit back and absorb some of the information on this site.All the wood you have been breaking is some of the easiest to make a bow with. You tend to ask questions but then say you don't believe the advice you are getting. What you need to do probally is to start building  and breaking some bows. That way you can get the answers you need yourself.

[recurve shooter]

  Another thing is you need to sit back and absorb some of the information on this site.All the wood you have been breaking is some of the easiest to make a bow with. You tend to ask questions but then say you don't believe the advice you are getting. What you need to do probally is to start building  and breaking some bows. That way you can get the answers you need yourself.

  wadaya mean by that? everything i know i learned from this site. i listen to everything yall say and do my best to follow yer advice. but anyway, i do need a rasp, more patience, and, well, more patience. 

[El Destructo]

yeah, i need a rasp. what brand and type to yall recomend?

I use a Ferriers rasp......and love it....lots of the Others like and use the Nicholson #49 Rasp (i believe) and swear by them....it is a personal Preference....until you get a good handle on how to use a Drawknife...I would only rough a Bow out with one...and then go to the Rasp ....and Scrapers....it is really hard to tear up a Bow with a Scraper....but I bet if someone was persistent enough ....they could!!!!

Remember.....ask...listen....try....ask more....and mostly....take your time....if you are anxious.....or your mind is somewhere else....drop the Rasp or Scraper....and go dwell on what it is you are thinking about....or settle what is bothering you....you must be "In The Mood" to build a Bow.....there is no room for shortcuts......or good enoughs....you have to be there 100 %......or you might as well just cut it up in 16" pieces and put it in the Wood Pile......JMO

Michael  "ElDestructo"  Roberts

[radius]

could also be your wood is too dry...?

[david w.]

i made my first bow over a period of 3 months. take it slow and work only when you feel like it and if you get mad or frustrated walk away.

Sometime i make shavings for weeks without stoping then i wont touch it for a few days. i never want to rush it

[NTProf]

I used to use a tillering stick and broke my first 3 bows. Then I followed Jawge's advice and built a tillering tree with a pulley system. I have not broken a bow since.