Hey guys, I'm almost finished with my first hand-made bow. It's a board-bow, made from red oak with a Brazilian Cherry back. I don't have the correct string for it, so I don't know for sure what the draw-weight is yet, but I was hoping for 50-55 pounds. I'm sure it's a little light. I wanted one for bowfishing, so I made it short; 58" nock to nock. I'll post more pics when it's done. Here's what I've got, starting with the tillering tree;http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...g?t=1175201513

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h188/bowman55/bowtilleringdone.jpg?t=1175201546

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h188/bowman55/roughed-outriser.jpg?t=1175201579

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h188/bowman55/shapinghandle.jpg?t=1175201634

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h188/bowman55/startingthumb-self.jpg?t=1175201663

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h188/bowman55/tipoverlaysglueon.jpg?t=1175201757


Does anyone think the limbs look "hinged" right at the riser, or is it just me?

Any imput would be helpful since this is my first bow.

I'm looking at your first picture, and it does. Make sure you check the bow often.
Below is a pretty good tiller, the right limb maybe just a bit stiff.

looks great!!!!!

Looking at other pictures of properly tillered bows, mine has too much bend near the handle. And, as proof, when my new string came in yesterday, I braced it, and it broke on the second draw. It was way too short for that design anyways, and the limbs were both too thin near the handle.

Oh well. Bow # 2 is on it's way. I actually thought I'd break the first 5 or 6 before I got a good one. Thank for the input.

58" was just too short period. Rule of thumb on minimum bow lengthfor making bows with red oak... Your draw length times 2 plus 20-30%. My opinion, guys with shorter draws are safe at 20%. Ape-armed knuckle draggers like me need to go 30%. Guys in between, 25%. When you've got some experience at it you can start pushing the minimums by making the limbs wider and flatter, but beginners should fudge on the long side.

28" draw X 2 = 56"
25% of56 is 14
Avg bow length for 28" draw is 70".

Follow that formula and it'll put the odds of making a shooter a lot more in your favor.

It looks pretty good to me.