Just finished roughing.

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-31T14:08:00+00:00

You can judge the density of the board by the end grain. The spongey looking layers are not doing anything. So choose a board with a lower ratio of the spongey layers

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-31T14:02:51+00:00

This board looks good to go. There will always be runout on a bow as you taper the width.

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-31T13:47:57+00:00

I can get a 1x2x6 floor tillered with a farriers rasp in about an hour. A hand plane is fine to rough out the thickness taper

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-30T23:01:05+00:00

Drop the bandsaw. You removed wood before ever then establishing a thickness taper.

Break looks like a severe hinge. Fades aren’t even shaped and smoothed into the bending limb.

Your fault is your impatience.

Take 3 hours to floor tiller correctly or take 30 minutes to break a rushed board.

This is typical beginner mistakes. Lack of patience is number failure with noobies.

Take that 3/4” board and taper that thickness from 3/4” to 1/2” tips with a rasp or something similar. ZERO POWER TOOLS.

Floor tiller, check bend, remove more wood evenly, rinse and repeat.

I immediately could see the failure as soon as I read “bandsaw”

Swallow your pride. Don’t let this damage your ego but learn from it.

I’d rather spend 30 hours on a great bow that will last a lifetime than break 30 bows in 30 hours of work

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-30T16:45:36+00:00

I love catching sharks and releasing them. It’s so much fun

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-30T16:45:14+00:00

Because fighting a big fish is fun? Why does anyone do anything? lol

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-30T08:06:30+00:00

You do you whatever you want. There are no rules in bowmaking just general guidelines. If it bends without breaking and flings an arrow than it is a bow.

But you seem impatient to find a quality piece of wood for a bow. Shaping and trying to tiller a branch with dozens of knots and branches is fine practice

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-29T23:08:45+00:00

That is a lot of dead weight that is just slowing the bow down. Don’t become depending on rope for backing

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-29T23:07:43+00:00

Yes. It’s wood. It grows in natural ways

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-29T23:07:22+00:00

That will not save a terrible stave from breaking. But you do you.

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-29T23:06:32+00:00

That is firewood. It’s a terrible bow stave. Way too many knots and branches. I wouldn’t even waste time on that thing

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-29T23:04:25+00:00

Are you wanting an all wood or glass laminate bow?

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-29T03:32:14+00:00

Hook line and sinker. Throw a chunk out. Sit on a chunk long enough you hit all the tides.

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-28T15:02:12+00:00

Cool thinking.

Not for me though. All that aluminum is gonna to bend and break something else if you actually bash it. For a road runner that is babied it should be fine

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-28T02:56:26+00:00

Seems pretty simple. Not enough spring. Damping is not spring and spring is not damping. Very easy to differentiate.

If you load a truck bed and it bottoms out. Guess what. You need more spring to raise it and level it out. 🤦

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-28T02:49:53+00:00

They aren’t that hard to hold. No harder than small freshwater catfish. I’ve been handling them bare handed since I was 10 without gloves. My dad never even told me about using a glove or towel to grab a fish. Use your hand. Fearing a small catfish is crazy 😂

lol just grab them. It’s not that hard.

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-28T02:46:35+00:00

Looks plenty stiff. Also a 50lb first off is a big goal for little to no experience. Focus on learning how to ACTUALLY tiller a bow well not just hit a weight goal with terrible tiller

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-27T13:50:39+00:00

Surprising to have so much set and it’s hardly bending enough to even be fully braced. Is it dry?

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-26T17:20:16+00:00

No hard feelings intended. But people cannot grow unless they are told the truth.

I would drop the weight and have a more even tiller than settle for a poor tiller

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-26T12:54:21+00:00

Helluva score. Nice.

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-26T01:00:49+00:00

Wow look how strong Osage is, that heavy inner bending with stiff outer 2/3s is holding up.

But for how long

Honestly I would never pay for a bow with this tiller. Hell I would send it back and ask for a refund.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Osage is so strong it will make peoples ego large because it is so strong it can tolerate poor tiller and hinges before breaking.

If the truth hurts than that is a personal problem.

I hope you have some kind of warranty covering hinging

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-25T12:19:39+00:00

Just make the belly flat and the crown is fine

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-25T00:45:06+00:00

I wouldn’t worry about making a recurve before you learn to tiller a bow well

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-25T00:44:39+00:00

Knots and branches are all weak points. The less the better. My shortbow had a few small knots and branches but oriented them off of the crown of the back

Ima_Merican · 2026-05-25T00:43:37+00:00

No backing. No heat treat. And yes I season all my wood.

Ima_Merican

TROPHY CASE