Well I didn't "listen" when I was lurking and bought a heavier bow...now I have a bow that will wait for me to get my form down on the lighter bow I just bought. I now have two Black Bears, one at 45# and one at 30#, for me. My wife's bow is a 25# Bear Panda. I'm getting new strings for each as well as serving, serving tool, wax and nocks. I already have a bow square from my compound tuning. I have a couple of books to follow, but any suggestions on setting up the strings, serving etc. as well as setting brace height, will be appreciated. I'd like to do this setup myself to learn the skills. Next of course will be arrows... I'm thinking aluminium, feathers and field points to start. Wouldn't mind building these myself but will probably go pre-made at first.
Thanks
My preference for brace height is as low as it will go and still shoot straight. I figure the longer the string stays with the arrow, the better the cast. Try a height of about 8" and go down from there. You didn't say whether not you were intending to shoot off the shelf. The nocking point will probably need to be higher above square if you shoot off the shelf. I started out by tying a peice of serving material around the string to serve as a marker. I slid the marker up and shot an arrow. When my arrow flight was straight, (no up and down waving), I put my nocking point there. Mark the height on your bow square. every time you put on a new string, you'll need to replace the nocking point. Tuning a recurve is easy. You only have one moving part.
I don't much agree with Asbell about shooting and aiming but I do like his method of setting the brace height on your bow. He says to run your brace height down low enough that you're getting bad arrow flight and noise, then start raising the brace height again until the arrow flight and noise clears up. I've done that with dozens of bows and have always wound up within the bowyer's recommended brace height.
I agree with Art on the brace height--starting at 8" you may not know which way you need to go with it. I'd start out at around 7".
Before you try to fine tune everything, make sure your string is shot it--it won't do much good to find the ideal brace height and nock point if your string is still settling in.
Learning to serve your own string is probably one of the better things you can do. It's pretty easy, the equipment needed is cheap, and it might save a hunt or tournament if you have a serving break. I like #62 braid and Halo serving, but the #4 or #400 nylon works fine, especially on dacron strings (it just won't last nearly as long and only comes in one size).
Starting with aluminum is a good choice, I think--lots of sizes, easy to replace. Definately go with feathers, and make sure your arrow is heavy enough that you don't damage your bow-I like 8 grains of arrow weight (or more) for every pound of draw weight.
Sorry for not responding sooner--this one took a little time and thought to reply to.
Good luck!
Chad
__________________
"We can have no '50-50' allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all."-- Theodore Roosevelt
A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. Ecclesiasties 10:2
The last four letters in American..........I Can
The last four letters in Republican........I Can
The last four letters in Democrats.........Rats
Thanks guys,
I know I've heard this before, but my bows are all rated at 28" draw lengths. I draw short; the pro shop measured me on a very light recurve with a marked arrow and said 27". I held at the corner of my mouth and she adjusted my stance and bow arm. Another pro shop used the wing span method and said 24". This guy was only into compounds and seemed like he was uninterested in helping. The point is I know I've heard that if I draw less than the rated draw length then I'll be drawing less weight than the bow is rated for. It doesn't seem like much in relation to what size/spine arrows I'll be choosing, but how do I figure the difference in draw weight?
The only way to know for sure what you are drawing on that particular bow is to pull an arrow back on it several times, and have someone mark it for you. Do it several times to be sure--you will be tempted to overdraw a bit.
To know exactly what you are pulling on that bow, you will have to scale it at your draw weight. You can generally expect to loose (or gain) 2-3 lbs per inch on bows up to 55-60#--good ones anyhow.
Chad
__________________
"We can have no '50-50' allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all."-- Theodore Roosevelt
A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. Ecclesiasties 10:2
The last four letters in American..........I Can
The last four letters in Republican........I Can
The last four letters in Democrats.........Rats
I was reading an old archery book - "old" meaning 1970[&o] - and it gave a formula for estimating how much weight a bow will lose or gain per inch of draw length. Take the draw weight and divide by 20. A 40 pound bow should vary 2 pounds per inch, a 50 pound bow will vary 2.5 pounds per inch, an 80 pound bow will vary 4 pounds per inch.
Tuning up my recurves
