When I used to shoot recurve I used the tiller bolts to tune my arrows ie too stiff or too week along with point weight

 

Also I used to not play around with my plunger button on spring tension I used to set it to 1/8" movement with 1lb weight on it as I was not that great of a shot with recurve (come to think about it I am not a great shot with compound either)

 

plunger set up is a another can of worms I am saving for a later date....

 

Those are ge general guidelines that do not always translate to all risers. The best thing to do is to contact the manufacturers [although honestly it can be difficult to get a clear answer from W&W; I've gotten tiller bolt advice from their CS that contradicts what was in the manual...] Take Hoyt for example- all their later risers you can only turn the bolts out six turns from full in; on the other hand turning the bolts all the way in on my W&W risers will damage the limbs. Another method is to look at how the back side of the bolt face contacts the limb; Kaminski has some videos on this technique.

 

Those are ge general guidelines that do not always translate to all risers. The best thing to do is to contact the manufacturers [although honestly it can be difficult to get a clear answer from W&W; I've gotten tiller bolt advice from their CS that contradicts what was in the manual...] Take Hoyt for example- all their later risers you can only turn the bolts out six turns from full in; on the other hand turning the bolts all the way in on my W&W risers will damage the limbs. Another method is to look at how the back side of the bolt face contacts the limb; Kaminski has some videos on this technique.

I found one W&W's older model manuals on the web. And all it says is not to exceed factory tiller bolt position more than 2 turns either direction. But they do not state factory position. But if I go by the pictures for both the older W&W and newer W&W factory setting looks simple enough. Bottom of the tiller bolt is flush with the top of the riser frame.

As for Fivics.... their stuff is hard to find. And I don't think there is a Fivics dealer around me. So I may just go with the W&W tiller start point, check the draw weight, and adjust from their. I did note that the Fivics tiller bolt is 10 turns from top to bottom of the thread.

 

Your calculations on draw weight vs. length sound off as well... Rule of thumb is you gain about two pounds for every two inches the riser is shorter than whatever length the limbs are rated on; and you lose about 2lbs per inch of draw length under whatever length the limbs are rated at... But some limbs are rated at the riser's mid-point of adjustment while other companies rate their limbs at the minimum setting of bolt adjustment. More experienced archers use the guidelines you mentioned, but also evaluate where they are based on how the limb interacts with the pockets and the bolts; it's unfortunately not so cut and dried.

 

Then, setting tiller [the difference between top and bottom limb] depends on shooting style; if you are shooting split finger [and thus presumedly not crawling] generally a positive tiller [where the distance between the limb and the string] is neutral to slightly greater on top [typically up to 6mm or 1/4"]; for bare bow/crawling many prefer a negative tiller [where the measurement is greater at the bottom limb], and this depends on how deep one needs to crawl to achieve their point of aim.

But back to initial tiller, don't assume the general things you read online work for every riser and check the manual or consult the manufacturer.

 

Then, setting tiller [the difference between top and bottom limb] depends on shooting style; if you are shooting split finger [and thus presumedly not crawling] generally a positive tiller [where the distance between the limb and the string] is neutral to slightly greater on top [typically up to 6mm or 1/4"]; for bare bow/crawling many prefer a negative tiller [where the measurement is greater at the bottom limb], and this depends on how deep one needs to crawl to achieve their point of aim.

But back to initial tiller, don't assume the general things you read online work for every riser and check the manual or consult the manufacturer.

understood.... I shall try to reach out to W&W and see if they still have information on the Winact. Last thing I want to do is damage the riser, or have an accident for that mater.

 

I asked W&W about the factory settings for my ATF-X. They said it is 20mm from the limb pocket surface to the bottom of the tiller bolt head.

 

20mm is the same measurement I got for my CXT, but I believe the newer risers you can actually bottom out the bolts for a starting position.

 

I have a WinexII riser. When I replaced the limb bolts I first took off the limbs screwed the factory bolt fully in and counted the turns- took out the bolts put in the new fully in and backed them out the same number of turns. Replaced the limbs and set the tiller adjustment with the new bolts - it was pretty dead on and then used a luggage scale to test the draw wt at my anchor point-- again it was pretty much dead on. If you are trying to maintain a specific draw wt then a luggage scale is a great aid. Obviously you don't want to back the limb bolts out too far nor will they work fully in but with in range you can adjust the draw wt a bit.

 

thank you all for the replies.

I asked two pro shops near me over the weekend, and both told me "bring in the riser in and we will set it up for you." That may be the easy way, but I want to learn about my bows, not just hand them off.

 

Just a caution- some pro shops are really not all that good with recurves as they are mostly compound and cross bow oriented- not all obviously some are great at both- a test is do they sell both? However, that said I think your last statement is the key- yup there is a learning curve with dyi, and yup you can make some mistake but when you learn to set up your own bow you will learn by doing and it will be your bow. In the future when you want to make changes to the set up you are the one that can do them. Same is true for arrow fletching - I have a forest of arrow mistake at my house but I am happy now with what I can do building my own, now what to do with that forest of old arrows.

 

If/when you go to the shop for the set up ]for anything], ask them what they are doing and why... A good shop will tell you thus providing some "tuning lessons" for free.

 

For any one out there that wishes to know.. On a Fivics Titan X2, EX, and NX the tiller bolt is 5 turns out from where you can no longer see threads on the tiller bolt.

Thanks Jason @ Fivics