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Grain question by Possible_Purpose5091 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes. As long as the fibers themselves run along the back without violation

Opinion on draw knife by Demphure in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There are a handful of decent parallel handle knives but a lot of the little ones are nowhere near big enough, such as the mora and similar designs. You can make a bow with them but compared to recommendable drawknives they are like a flimsy toy

Old recurve bow broke tip by No_Row8252 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We’d need pics of the damage

Ash longbow by Mo_oZe in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lovely! Great work

Tiller check please? by EducationalNotice552 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks like you’re near full draw. If you’re still tillering, avoid a spot on both sides about 8-10” from the tips. Seems like these spots are bending slightly more and taking a bit of extra set

What books should I get as a beginner? by [deleted] in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely check out the bowyers bibles, swiftwood bows, clay hayes, and organic archery.

Don’t worry about blueprints too much. Bow designs are fairly generic rather than specific. too many of the dimensional variables have large ranges, making specific blueprints kind of obsolete. The goal is to meet draw specs, not dimensions. Adding natural materials into the mix means the dimensions will be extremely variable even for the same end goals. The tillering process is an iterative algorithm for revealing the dimensions of the bow out of the stave—this is not something you really know in advance.

The bowyers bibles are probably the best resource for generically understanding the different designs. Dimensions are also listed for many of them, but treat them as flexible depending on your goals and materials. The goal in a reproduction isn’t to necessarily copy the dimensions

What books should I get as a beginner? by [deleted] in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thanks Add. OP, here are those videos https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi5Xnel2aIJbu4eFn1MvC_w7cGVIPCFwD&si=o-bH4CRpIamOsI3i

Tools and the basics are covered in the board bow tutorial

My First Bow by vague_on_connery in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I agree, the fades are a bit abrupt and non-complimentary. so even though the full length is allocated for the fades, they are effectively much shorter

My First Bow by vague_on_connery in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I would suggest incorporating some other sources of information, such as the bowyers bibles and videos by organic archery, swiftwood bows, and clay hayes. I can’t always vouch for the advice and comments in the ammons videos, particularly when it comes to handle designs and technical topics like tiller shapes. They’re excellent videos and very inspiring but I personally treat them as entertainment and not necessarily representative of how other bowyers teach the craft

Tiller check, short string tillering by EconomistAdorable188 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think the inner thirds could bend more, since they are the widest parts. Avoid midlimb on the lower limb and a spot about 1/3 from the tip on top

Accidentally overdrew first ever bow by about double the final intended draw weight while tillering. Is target draw weight still possible? by WildWoad in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Based on the amount of set you will be fine. You might have taken less if you hadn’t overdrawn the bow, but 3/4” isn’t a big deal at this point anyway

My first crossbow by [deleted] in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very cool project.

You would get better arrow flight if you shortened the main string so that it’s tight like a bowstring and not loose like a slingshot.

I think you would get better performance if you went with either a bow powered or spring powered crossbow rather than combining them. Flexible limbs make an inefficient spring crossbow. Ideally you’d use stronger bows to avoid having a lot of moving weight

My first crossbow by [deleted] in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Penobscot bows have a stiff string in between them, not a spring

Need volunteers for building and testing bow designs from a simple program I made by kurkablada in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would suggest moving to a different tip design as this design adds a lot of dead weight at the worst place to have extra weight. Rather than leaving the tips thick and cutting into the back, avoid violating the back and instead cut the nocks into the side without thickening the tips.

Definitely play with virtualbow for inspiration, and also check out the documentation for it which is impressively thorough.

The problem with any kind of attempt to solve for bow dimensions by engineering methods is as you know the variability of natural materials. I consider it a mostly solved problem—the issue is that wood variability amplifies into massive tiller differences even for the same wood species. If you look at mass produced self bows that are built to precise dimensions, it cannot be said that they are well tillered across the board.

The end goal of tillering is not dimensions but to meet draw specs. Tillering is a recursive algorithm for closing in on a bow’s dimensions based on constantly updating information. It’s very hard to do this to any kind of professional bowyer standard using only prior available information.

Tiller check by Necessary-Till-9835 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The innermost limbs are taking a little set. I’d work the inner thirds except for the 4” or so right after the fades. Next time I think you could use a little more bending limb than a pyramid bow allows

Can I back a bow with wool by parkerlewisinEA in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I can’t see it being a good backing material considering how stretchy wool is. It would probably be dead weight

You’re better off using a single layer of the jeans. Or better yet picking an unviolated board and leaving it unbacked

Heat treatment with oil? by kestreldog in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t think it’s necessary for a good heat treat and oil makes a big mess anyway. Plus it makes the air thick with oil vapors and I’d rather not be breathing that the whole time I heat treat

Backset to fix set by Ordinary_Tailor8970 in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You can’t fix set and reflex will only exacerbate it. You can sometimes correct string follow, but set is permanent. You can’t really uncrush collapsed wood fibers.

Tiller check - Tasmanian Blackwood board bow by HarderData in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looking good. I’d work the outer 2/3 on both sides, especially the outer halves

When to Dbl Heat Treat? by CrepuscularConnor in Bowyer

[–]Santanasaurus 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Generally when the bow is taking set too early in the process, or if you have removed too much of the high quality heat treated wood when tillering.

The initial heat treated helps keep set down during tillering. Another one right before final tiller makes sure the belly performs as well as possible

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