• Registered: 2010-10-15
  • Posts: 860
  • User Karma: 82

Topic: So-called "Korean tiller"

Dear Friends,

Even those of us who have been practicing Korean traditional archery for decades--who are considered "experts" in our area--can make mistakes.  Evidently, I have been making one for years.

Many, many years ago, a Korean bowyer told me that bows used in KTA in Korea have a slight limb bend towards the arrow side, which I came to call the Korean tiller.  I have always considered that to be the way it was, and have told others the same, and I had understood that bows I shipped internationally would not have that feature.  When I had a customer tell me that his bow limb tilted to one side, I thought to myself, "Hmmm...  I guess I must have sent a domestic bow with the "Korean tiller" by mistake", even though I check each bow, draw it back (sometimes, with the heavier bows, the draw isn't that much), and make sure everything is straight.  So, I asked my wife--who does all my ordering for me--to please ask the bowyer to make sure the limbs don't have the Korean tiller.  She called and said as much to him, to which he was very surprised, and a bit peeved.  Needless to say, my wife was less-than-happy with me for sending her on what may have been a fool's errand...

The bowyer told her there is no such thing with the bows he makes.  All bows have straight limbs, and that any issue with a bend to one side is because of the archer and not the bow.  Again, as I check the bows before they ship out, and they all draw back straight for me, I have to agree. 

So, I wish to set the record straight, apologize for propagating what turned out to be not correct. 

There is no such thing in Korean laminated bows as a Korean tiller


Thomas

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2 Reply by RolldyLee (edited by RolldyLee 2018-02-19 15:32:17)

  • Registered: 2016-08-18
  • Posts: 24
  • User Karma: 2

Re: So-called "Korean tiller"

If you remember my case from last year, I am lefty and received a bow that was tilted to left. If it (which I suspect is YMG) truly came straight, shouldn't it have been tilted to the right? He also told me that he doesn't put any tilt on the limbs when I got that bow, which proved to be false.

I am little surprised that you came to this conclusion, because I also heard from several other people about the 'Korean tiller'. I'd still be interested in hearing more about this though.

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  • Registered: 2010-10-15
  • Posts: 860
  • User Karma: 82

Re: So-called "Korean tiller"

RolldyLee wrote:

If you remember my case from last year, I am lefty and received a bow that was tilted to left. If it (which I suspect is YMG) truly came straight, shouldn't it have been tilted to the right? He also told me that he doesn't put any tilt on the limbs when I got that bow, which proved to be false.

I am little surprised that you came to this conclusion, because I also heard from several other people about the 'Korean tiller'. I'd still be interested in hearing more about this though.

I believe the "Korean tiller" idea came from SMG, which I have heard from others does put in that "feature".  For a long time, I erroneously also attributed it to YMG.  In the end, from what I can tell, it wasn't "Korean tiller" or a twisted limb, but archer's form that was causing the issue.  Recently, I received a bow back from someone who felt the limb was turned, but when I checked it out, it was perfectly straight.

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