Day Two

May 5, 1999


OK, I've got some comments back on the string not laying center.  Here they are:

Jim in OR says:
"Regarding the string not laying down the bow, check the 'symetricalness'( izzat a word?) of the way you have cut the string nocks in ...Scrutinize the layout with the bow unbraced and see if a centerline STILL bisects the hand section properly from end to end.... Remove wood on the belly side that the string is lopping toward( weakening it) AFTER verifying that both the first items are TRUE and PROPER as they should be."

And the ferret says:

"You can bring the string over some by making the string nock deeper on the side the string lays to (I believe)"

Here's my reply to Jim:

A little more on the string not laying center. I had a knot about 10 inches from the bottom of the lower limb that as the stave
dried, it pulled it to one side. Of course it went the wrong way but steaming did the job to straighten it up. Then when I  sinewed it, it pulled it back. I let it dry completely after steaming so it just must have been a little weak. So now we have the problem.I'm gonna take your advice and look carefully at layout. I've got a thick enough handle to be able to rasp a little off the arrowside to reduce the effects but I don't think I can do much with the tips.

I am going right now to check on these things so stay tuned (9:08 am).

After looking it over real close, I think Jim is right.  It's definitely a layout problem.  I'm not sure what I can do about it now.  I'll try the ferret's idea of filing the nocks a bit but I don't have much to work with.  We'll see if it helps.


OK, decision made!  Read on.

Jim in OR said:
"John--That lower limb does take a bit of a jog off center..How MUCH SHORTER is it presently than the upper limb? Would it be possible to shorten the upper limb to the same length as the lower limb is now and then flip-flop the bow, taking advantage of the jog for a right-handed shooter's arrow pass-by on the left side of the bow?Your present lower limb would become the upper...jim"
So I answered:
Jim, you read my mind. Actually, the limbs aren't even far enough off to make a difference so I'm flipping the sucker! This is the
first asymetrical bow I've built so I think my subconscious wouldn't allow me to make one limb longer by much. Lesson learned:
Pay more attention to layout! I get to hacking on a bow and my mind goes somewhere else. I'll try to be more methodical at
least in that respect in the future.

Jim in OR also offers the following on the tiller:
"Concerning the tiller..upper limb appears to be bending overmuch, working close to a hinge about 6-8" from the tip..so limb will need reduction elsewhere so all gets regulated, including the lower limb"

And the ferret says:

"Limb on left in picture (upper limb?) is developing a hinge and you need to straighten that out before you do anything to the other limb, especially since you may lose a bunch of weight just in straightening that limb out, then a bunch more when you bring it back into tiller."

I'll work on that after the string is laying center. (9:09)


Back to tillering (10:23)
Here's the series so far.  Left to right, I'm trying to adjust the upper limb (left in picture) to correct the hinge that is developing just past midlimb.  I've done 2 series of fine scraping on the vise.  Are we getting anywhere?

Still got some work to do, don't we? Back to the vise!


Here we are again:


Gettin' a little better.  A couple more rounds should do it huh?  I'm still weighing a solid 50 pounds at 20".  We might be allright. (11:00)


Time to start taking weight off that other limb.  Here's where I start worrying about making weight.  We're still holding 50 pounds at 21" so we might make it.  Hope...hope..hope.
We're going to let it rest for awhile.  I hope to get a little more done on it this afternoon.  See ya' then? (11:30)

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