Board Bow Help?

[Straight Shooter]

I'm the new guy here and just started my first Longbow. It seems to be comming along pretty well, but I'm having a couple issues. I chose to make my first bow out of red oak and know that its not the ideal wood choice, but its my first. This is what I got so far!






I don't have a string yet but decided to use a stretched and furled piece of 40# monofiliment as a makeshift string to test my bow. Can you see what the problem is?


I have 9.5" from face to nock on my bottom limb and 7.25" from face to nock on my top limb.




Me being a novice at best would assume I need to remove more wood from the top in order to weaken it and even out the limbs, but they seem very symetrical and I don't want to start messing with it unless I have to.  Could it be something else like my makeshift string or something else messing it up?  Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[The Gopher]

For a first bow you are off to a great start! You've done a good job making both limbs bend evenly (no hinges or flat spots) it just that the limb on the right is bending more than the limb on the left. Evenly (and slowly) remove wood from the left limb until they are doing the same amount of work.

Your string material won't influence how the limbs bend, i'm not sure i would shoot with the string you have but for tillering it is fine. Just make sure to round all the corners and edges on the nocks.

You may also want to round off the belly side of the fades on the handle, just a prefference but you can make them much more of a smooth transition from the handle.

Most importantly, don't be afraid to come in underweight on your first bow, you will learn so much in the process of getting the tillering just right that the next one will be much easier. It is better to have an underweight bow or a kids bow than to have a broken bow because the tiller was off.

Good luck and keep us updated!

[Straight Shooter]

Thanks Gopher! I'll be working on it some more today. I'm also going to double check my "riser" (is that what its still called on trad. bows?) to make sure I don't have a taller riser on top making it more stiff.

[Straight Shooter]

Got er' all wrapped up today. I made a visit to Chad's shop for some guidence and string help. I can't say enough about the guy, he stopped the project he was working on to get me set up which I thought was awesome. Seeing his shop and all his beautiful bows was amazing and gets my creative juices flowing all the more. For my first bow I think it turned out OK, but when I see the quality of Chads work its amazing. Anywho, here's my bow at full draw; not the prettiest but its a start. Thanks Chad!

[The Gopher]

for a first bow that is great! The riser could be almost half that length which would give you could get a shorter bow, but you can work on that on your next one way to go!