Lilhunter

on arrow velocity and efficiency of bows.


Someone asked this question not to long ago. Granted these tests were done when the use of Barbours linen was the string material of choice, I still think there is somethings that would be of interest considering not everyone is using the new and improved string material.

If you can find it, the book "Archery the Technical Side" its on page 45. It does state some previous tests that have yet to be published. and doenst go farther into details on the other findings.

The conclusion I will add.

The results of these tests show that the effect of using different weight strings depend to some extent on the size, shape, weight, and material of the bow.
There is an appreciable loss in efficiency in all cases, but for heavy bows this loss is small for small differences in string weights.
It's the weight of the string that is most important and not it's diameter. (i.e., the air resistance of the string is negligible.) This conclusion is based not only on these tests but on previous investigations, the results of which, have not yet been published.
The velocity of an arrow is reduced about the same amount as if the arrow were increased in weight by 1/3 the increase in weight of the string. This is reasonable since that portion of the string near the bow nock has very little effect on the arrow velocity, while the weight of that portion near the arrow has the same effect as if it were added to the arrow. For this reason it is not advisable to serve the string with heavy material but the loop end may be whipped with heavy material.
Archers may be interested in nothing that in spite of the fact that the lemonwood bow is much heavier then the maple, it does not give much higher arrow velocity. The maple is the most efficient of the three bows tested.

I cant answer how these tests will pertain to the newer more modern bow string and serving materials. It does fill in more pieces to the puzzle when it comes to fine tuning though. Thats if you are big into playing around with your equipment to get things absolutly perfect. (which it never seems to be)

Just thought ya'll would be interested in it.....hope ya like!

IrishLad32

That's interesting 'cause I was wondering what switching from a 16 strand to a 14 strand would do for noise.

Brandan

LBR

That is interesting--makes me wonder even more how much you actually gain with a tiny string after building up the serving.

Chad

Long Bows Rule!

Lilhunter

Chad,

I am planning on digging up that other stuff......give me some time, I'll let you know what I find.

woodbow

String weight has an influence.

The location of that weight also plays a role. Weight at the ends has less influence than weight in the middle of the string.

LBR

I' m sure that the weight of the string has some effect--what I wonder is how much in general. A friend that owned a compound shop told me several years ago that on some wheel bows he tested even a brass nock slowed the bow down a tad. I don' t really understand the want for a minute gain in speed on a traditional bow, except possibly for target shooting. I do understand that there are folks that probably just like the feel of them, and I understand salesmen using speed to make a sale--I know that it' s a selling point, even with traditional bows--but give me a moderate sized, quiet, stable string any day. It would benefit me to " push" the tiny strings--would save quite a bit of material (which equals $$), but I just don' t care for them. The same reason I don' t use certain string materials--I don' t care for them, don' t believe in them, don' t feel that they are what they are made out to be by some, so I just won' t use them.

Chad

CT Bowhunter

By effect of string weight, are we talking increase/decrease in speed. Has anyone done any testing on the whether an 8 strand is faster than a 14 strand? Chad an interesting thing to do would be to set up 2 strings, an 8 strand and 14 strand Dynaflight 97 flemish, complete with serving adequate for good nock fit. Weigh both, then shoot them. First see if there is a difference in noise levels or hand shock, second where do the arrows hit in relation to one another, third shoot thru a chrono. If the arrows hit in the same place, What' s the advantage? So what if the 8 strand is 2 fps faster than the 14, if they are hitting in the same place you can' t see or gain any advantage. You can then compare Dynaflight to Dyneena or any of the others. Then you could compare string life of each. By then you' re old and gray and all for a possible gain of a few fps. Too me with traditional shooting it doesn' t seem to be worth it. If there was a significant gain, with little or no negative effects, then it would be worth it. But that' s what' s great about archery, everyone has a different way, and I think if it works for you, who cares what others think

woodbow

I gotta agree with you..I' m not concerned about a few feet pre second. Sometimes, on some bows, the differencee between a 14 and 16 strand string equates to an increased amount of noise. This concerns me more than speed.

I tried a 16 strand string out of artificial sinew(the thickest of the three types) a couple years ago and I' d guess it slowed my bow down by about 80 fps ..That' s a bit much I thought.

We make choices as to what we personally want to get/accomplish out of our bowhunting. That decision dictates " how" we hunt and for many the " how" is the most important factor.

Good hunting