How to Build a Board Bow Part 4: Early Tillering

Using only a $15 board you can make a powerful and effective bow with a few simple hand tools.In this video I show how to establish a good taper and begin to reduce the wood on the belly of the bow so that it can begin to bend. Once the bow is flexing a bit we can continue carefully removing wood from the belly, ensuring an even and balanced bend throughout the working limbs. Before I can string the bow I show how to carve self nocks into the tips to provide grooves for the string. I show how to use a long string on the tiller tree to asses the draw weight and continue tillering the bow. Once it's bending enough I put it on a short string at low brace. This is the fourth part of a series showing the step by step process of making a bow from a board. In this series I'll be using a hickory board to make a straight-forward flat bow pyramid design.