Long bow in the making part 2                               

Starting to Tiller
Tillering is only as hard as you make it. The process is to remove wood until the limbs bend evenly at the poundage and draw length that you need. Right now, the bow is just shy of about 500 pounds at 2 inches of draw with 1/4 inch brace height. We probably need it about 50-60 pounds at 28 or 29 inches. What works best for me at this point is a solid bench vise and rasp. Right now, your stave is straight from either end of the handle to the tips. The area above and below the handle is a fading slope to the limbs called a “fadeout�?(see illustration C). I don’t know of any hard and fast rules on the fadeouts. They should be a gentle transition, not abrupt. Look at as many bows and pictures as you can. There is a wealth of pictures in the back issues of Primitive Archer.

When tillering, the idea is to remove wood evenly from the entire length of the limb. If you take too much out of an area or the limb does not have a taper from handle to tip, you will get a hinge. If this is not corrected, then start your next stave. To fix a hinged area, take wood from either side. Just go slow �?if you start going fast, stop and come back later. Work each limb until they flex a little. Check this by putting a limb tip on the floor and holding the bow straight up and down, one hand on the handle and one on the other tip. Push away from yourself. Don’t try to pull a muscle, just flex it and look down the limb. You’re looking for a nice bend all through the limb (no hinges or stiff spots). Remove wood where it doesn’t bend and leave it alone when it bends too much. It’s going to take you awhile to get there, so turn on the radio. If you can get a laminated bow to practice bending on, it will help. Get your bow to bend enough to get a tillering string on, or you can use a bow stringer with large cups. (A tillering string is just an extra-long bow string �?you can tie one end off and use the loop on the other end). All we need for now is a brace height of about 3 inches. Don’t go overboard and take off too much wood. The bow should still be plenty stout now.

Using a Tillering Board
It’s now time for a tillering board (a 2x4 with a V cut in one end and notches down one side). Put the strung bow in the V and pull the string down and put it in a notch. Or, have someone hold the bow by the handle and step on the string and pull up. Only pull a few inches right now. You want the limbs to bend almost all of the way to the fadeouts, but not at the tips. Let the tips stay stiff, about 6 inches or so. If the tips have flex in the last 6 inches, the bow will be rather slow.

When the bow gets within about 25 pounds of the final draw weight, you want to put down the big rasp and go to a scraper knife and a finer rasp. Every time you remove wood while tillering, flex the limbs about 20 times so they can adjust to the new stresses they’re being put through. Just draw the bow, or stand on the string and lift up (just several inches right now). Try not to stress the bow past what you want the final draw weight to be. As you inch toward the draw length and weight, you want to watch the limbs closely for any stiff or weak spots as it is being drawn. Get someone to draw it while you’re watching. Look from both sides and from a distance and close up. Then, switch to see if both of you are seeing the same thing. If not, get a third person to look.

Fine Tillering
Slowly creep toward the final weight, but leave it about 5 pounds heavy for break-in and final sanding. As you are going, keep the belly flat and the sides the same thickness. At times, a growth ring can be much thinner on one side of the bow than on the other, so you can’t always go by the feathering of the rings on the belly. Tillering can be like hitting your head on a brick wall at times �?it just gives you a throbbing headache. It could be very helpful if you made some little bows out of scrap wood (about two feet long). They will teach you a lot in a short time and, if they break, it doesn’t matter. If they don’t break, then you have something to shoot in the house! I also tell people who are building bows with me not to worry if their bow breaks. It’s just a piece of wood �?go get another one.

As you get close in tillering, just use your knife because I think that I once lost a good 10 pounds of bow weight with one rasp stroke. The brace height should stay as low as your feathers will allow (about 6 inches for now). In the finished bow, keep it as low as the bow will shoot it. While tillering, leave the bow strung. Put the handle in a padded vice and take a little off. Then, flex the limbs 20-30 times. Repeat this until finished.

Breaking in the Bow
To break the bow in, it’s best to short draw at first. If, after you have sanded out all tool marks and shot the bow, you discover that it is too light, cut the tips down the same on both ends. This is why we left the bow long. Put new grooves in with a chain saw file. Never groove the back of string nocks like those on glass laminated bows. After the bow is sanded and rubbed smooth with steel wool, get a spoon and a glove. Put your thumb in the spoon and rub every inch of the bow to press all of the wood fibers together. Use a good pressure. With the bow held in the light, you can see where you have been.

Finishing Touches
Shoot your bow several days to make sure nothing changes, then put a finish on it. I use Tru-Oil gun stock finish. Just rub it on and let it dry. Rub lightly with steel wool and repeat. Apply at least five coats �?use more if you like. I’ve always put on a horn shelf and grip, but this is your bow, so do what you like.
A person who wants to build a bow can do so with only the information given in this article, but there is so much more information available. The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible should be a must-read. In the long run, there is nothing better than hands-on experience. Attend as many shoots, shows, and knap-ins as possible. Devour any information that you can on the subject and use what you like. The only person that you are out to impress is yourself. Get all of the back issues of Primitive Archer, read any books that you can find, ask questions, take a class, and finally, make a big pile of wood shavings and dust.
I hope to see you in a hunting or fishing camp. Spend as much time in the outdoors as you can, pass it on to your children, and be safe