Tuning a recurve

[twosheds]

Hello, I made the jump from training wheels to the real deal last year. When I shot a compound, tuning was like a science to me. I had a system I went through each week to keep my equip in tune. Since the big switch, and after taking several game animals with trad gear I'm completely hooked. I want that same dedication to my trad gear as I did with a compound. Does anybody have a tuning outline or just a list of the parts that need to be tuned on trad gear. If there is a thread in the archives about this I appologize. Thank You, Tripper

[AllenR]

Check A & H Archery, one of our great sponsors.  He has a very good tuning guide on his website.

[NDTerminator]

I shoot maybe 15% modern and 85% Trad.  Tuning and keeping a recurve in tune is a pure joy in it's simplicity by comparison

You need a bow square, a bow stringer, and if you use brass nocks points, a nock pliers. Many, myself included, use tie-in nock points, thus eliminating the need for nock pliers. I use aluminium T type bow squares.  I leave one by my bow rack, one or two in my tackle box, and never travel w/o one.

You have two adjustments to deal with, brace height and nock height.  You adjust brace height by twisting the string up or down.  Nock point adjustment is the same as on modern bows.  You move it up/down to eliminate porpoising and achieve the best arrow flight.

All of my recurves tune at a brace height of 8" to 8.5" and a nock point of +3/8 to +4/8".  As they are all 50-55 lbs, I use the same arrow with all, and set them up with elevated rests.  This greatly simplfies tuning and logistics.

Like with my compounds, once I achieve my desired tune, I write down the brace height (with a compound it's top & bottom tiller)
and nock point height.

When I string up one of my recurves, I simply use a bow square to check these measurements before I shoot.  If the string has stretched a bit, it's a simple matter to twist it up to it's proper brace height.

When you put on a new string (which I do every year) it takes a while to stretch and break in.
I twist it to the proper brace height, add the nock point, then leave the bow strung until the string stabilizes.  This takes 7-10 days or so.  I check it daily and add twists as need until the string stabilizes. I shoot the bow every day during this period, checking the brace height and adding twists as needed after every practice session.....

[twosheds]

Thanks guys for the info.

[John 4]

The things I play with as far as tuning goes are,my brace hight,my nocking point hight,my plunger setting and my shelf/strike plate covering.
The brace hight stays the same but I can tune for different arrows by moving the plunger in or out.
I also shoot 3 under and have quite a high nocking point that stays at pretty much the same setting all the time.
I set both my nocking point hight and brace hight by shooting and adjusting until I get good arrow flight.
I don't use a bow square.
On the couple of bows I shoot off the shelf I still expearment with different strike plates.
Ultra thin leather,heavy leather,velcro,ect ect.
I like to get all my bows set up so they can shoot the same arrows.
With 45-50lb that's not to hard.