Seems like a good idea at the time

[Comfortably Dumb]

Hello out there - I need some advice on an old Colt's Woodsmaster B98-2008. It's 58" and 54 pounds at 28". Current brace height is 7.5".

I am thinking of making a tillering board and carefully removing material along the edges of the limbs to drop the peak weight down to around 43 to 47 pounds. Is this how the peak weight was originally "adjusted" from the factory?

Is this idea even feasible? I've never done anything like this to a lamimated bow. Any thoughts, suggestions? Please, :help: !

[OZ in MT]

It's quite feasible, CD, but you need to work carefully. To reduce this bow by 5-6 lbs, you don't need a band saw, and that's a good thing. Take a set of calipers and set them at 1/16". Put the inside edge of the calipers along the edges of each limb and scribe a clear scratch down the glass on the limb from the fades to the string grooves. Measure 4" from the fades on each limb. Start there on each edge with a medium rasp and CAREFULLY rasp the edges almost down to your scribe marks. When you can barely see any limb edge outside the scribe marks, put away the rasp and get some 100 grit paper and start sanding. At the edge of the scribe marks, go to 200 grit and smooth each side down to the mark. Then, with rasp and paper, just taper in the limb tips along the string grooves to the nocks, careful to leave enough shoulder on the nocks to support the string at tension. String up, check tiller and weight and then finish with the the product of your choice. If you need to take the poundage down another pound or so after the draw weight check, use 100, then 200 grit along the edges a little more and slant or "trap" the edges toward the belly of the bow so the limb is slightly narrower there than on the back. Do this last part slowly and check often to make sure you don't go out of tiller. The weight will drop quickly doing this so go slowly and carefully, checking tiller and weight often. Oh, and "good luck, Mr. Phelps.":)

[Comfortably Dumb]

Thanks for the advice and tips - I've some woodworking tools and experience, but I've never tillered a bow before. Should prove to be a possible mission, eh?

I'll carefully wrack my Bains, so the project does not Landau in an early Graves. Then again, the whole wobbly mess might self-destruct in less than ten minutes....:cussing:

[OZ in MT]

But of course, if you fail, Mr. CD, the Secretary disavow any knowledge of tillering as well. Good luck.:)

[James Wrenn]

Lay the bow down on a piece of paper and trace one limb while strung so you have a profile of how it should look.Put refrence marks to line things back up at your fades.Work your magic and string the bow and check it against your tracing.Flip it and check the other limb.When it matches you will be real close on the tiller, have the same profile or the original and all you will need is to finish it up with sandpaper.