(Worked on May 17,18, 2009)
What makes a bow a bow is the tillering process. The purpose of tillering is to get the bow to bend evenly, with the right pull poundage at the right draw. To tiller, one usually uses a tillering stand, something I’d have to build, since I don’t own one. However, I could achieve a similar effect by propping up a board in the Workmate clamp, and using two c-clamps on two other boards to keep the bow from falling off the apparatus. By pulling the string down to the outer board’s edge, I could stand back and see how it bent, and see which parts of the limbs I needed to sand. There are many problems that can arise while tillering, common problems including hinges, of which I had one. It took quite a long time, and it was extremely frustrating, but I was eventually able to get it to the point where I could bend it and brace it and the bow would bend how I wanted it to.
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- My marking for the left side, to remember which side was which
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- Left side- also about 2″ of set
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- I marked the sides Right and Left to remember which side was which
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- Right side- about 2″ of set
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- Both sides are a bit more even now, still some problems with the left side
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- The left limb is straight, rather than curved (too stiff)- you can also still see the hinge on the left near the handle
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- Pulling to the draw length I wanted- poundage was somewhere from 20-39lbs.- You can still see the hinge on the left side
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- There is a slight hinge near the handle on the left side
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- In this picture, you can see that the left limb needs to be weakened, so it will match the right limb
Time Spent: many hours
Technical Terms:
Tillering:
Tillering stand:
Brace:
Set:
Hinge: