Hello I'm in process of making my first laminated flatbow, back of ash and belly of jatoba.

My initial plan was based on a design I found in a book. It features a slight offset of the riser resulting in different lenght of the limbs, which intuitively strikes me as harder to tiller than a symmetrical bow having limbs of equal lenght. I have done 2 sketchces to show what I mean, and any input is greatly appreciated.

In advance thanks Erik

The other, symmetrical layout I'M considering

So the laminate I have is slightly reflexed, but it's not symmetrical, and if going with the unsymmetrical design, would there be any benefit of have the most profound reflex in the bottom or top limb or will this be equalized during tillering?

In advance thanks Erik

I offset my bows similar to the top photo for several reasons. I've tillered symmetrical and asymmetrical bows both and find that regardless of whether bows are shot split finger or three under, the asymmetrical design makes bow limbs easier to tiller and harmonize relative to the archer's holds and in the end makes for better behaving bows throughout the draw and loose. I also prefer how they carry and point... balancing better in the bow hand... mine anyway.

The 'perceived' benefit the symmetrical design offers is that it allows you to try to achieve a mirror image of one limb in the other, BUT, in order for a symmetrical bow to balanced relative to most archers' holds, they shouldn't look exactly the same coming down the tree anyway.

There's more involved, but that's about as brief as I can put it. Personally, there's no question in my mind, I'd go with the asymmetrical design... i.e. longer top limb.

To be honest I used to be a huge proponent of symmetrical tiller. Then I started messing with tiller as Jeff D describes and found the same things he has.

Thanks guys, much appreciated, I'll go with the unsymmetrical layout.

\Erik

Thanks guys, much appreciated, I'll go with the unsymmetrical layout.

\Erik

This goes for ANY bows, not just selfbows or all-wooden, lam or composite bows. Balance is balance.

To answer your other question, when synchronizing limbs the way I do, I haven't found much of a practical difference between putting the limb with more reflex up top vs. down below. Balance is balance... for the most part... and while I seek it desperately, maybe if I had some high tech analytical devices I could discern, but... I usually put it up top since there's more limb, mass-wise and/or lengthwise perhaps, to bring home. Timing is as timing does. It's ALL relevant.... and certainly worth 'considering'.

Hotdang I love tillerin bows :^)

Keep us posted on your progress and if you have any questions, feel free to shout em out.

Thanks again Jeff, I'll keep you updated.

Hi again I have now glued the riser (Nicaraguan Cocobolo) and tip overlays and ruffed out the fades. Tonight I'm going to taper the width of the limbs and shape the fades. I'm planning to leave wood between the fades untouched until the major tillering is done, mainly to accommodate better stability of the handle section in the tillering three. I'm I correct to assume that any work done post-tillering to the handle/riser, have no effect on the bending of the limbs?

I'll drop some pics later.

\Erik

It depends on design... i.e. handle shape, how thick it is and how steep your fades are. I like mine gradual and like to allow the bend to go up into the fades and glued-on handle a little bit, so I shape my handle earlier in the process than some folks I suppose, and finess the bend there during tillering. I have my tillering tree cradle shaped so that it will support my stave/blank either way, shaped or not.

Regardless, if careful, the effect is minimal, it can be accomplished without much affecting the limb's tiller or losing more than a pound or two of draw weight.

Ok, so I have just returned from the workshop, where I have learned a hard lesson involving a belt sander! While being a great tool for some purposes, care should be taken! First of all I managed to make a not to bad groove in the back laminate, when leveling the interface between the tip overlays and back. I'll have to level the whole back in a less aggressive manner.

Next up was the handle, again havoc! As wood was removed my pencil markings went as well, and I kind of lost how I envisioned the shape of the handle and riser and I should have stopped there, but I didn't! Ultimately I ended up removing to much wood at the arrow rest. I'm wondering if I could glue on a leftover triangle block of the cocobolo???

I also tapered the limbs width wise, which was more successful, with the tips ending up at 2 cm wide, and the widest at the handle being 3.5 cm. I choose the widest part to be positioned 10 cm from the center on each limb. I don't know if I should have placed the widest part of the each limb according to the fades? (eg. like 2 cm inwards from the fade/limb transition?). Also the start of the fades needs to be moved inwards towards the handle, but I'll do that with a rasp.

I'll be back with more later this week, and any input is greatly appreciated as always.

\Erik

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