Definitions Please

[ckanous]

What is "string follow" and "set"? I built me a couple of board bows and have found a new addiction so I  better learn the lingo.

[Osagetree]

Set or follow is induced by wood fibers being compressed on the belly of the bow. If a bow holds most or a certain degree of its shape after being untsrung then it has a lot of set or string follow.

Type in what your want to know in the search engine here on the site and read about stuff, that is a wealth of knowledge often overlooked.

[ckanous]

I was just checking some stuff out in the searches. Are saying set and follow are basically the same?

[4est trekker]

Set is measured in tip deflection from the original shape of the bow as in the following example:

You have heated in 3" of reflex into Bow A.  After tillering it and shooting it in, it retains 1" of reflex as measured at the tips. Thus, the bow has 2" of SET.

String follow is measured in tip deflection past the imaginary flat plane that extends along the back of the bow (i.e. the plane at which the bow's tips would neither be deflexed [belly-ward) or reflexed [back-ward}).  Take the following example:

Bow B is perfectly flat along it's back without reflex or deflex, as in the case of a board bow.  After tillering, etc., it retains 1.5" of deflex as measured at the tips.  Thus, the bow has 1.5" of STRING FOLLOW.

Now, take Bow A again. By defenition, it exhibits 2" of set but 0" of string follow.  Bow B exhibits 1.5" of string follow AND 1.5" of set.

Hope that's clearer than mud!

[ChristopherO]

No, they are not the same thing but they can appear as the same thing on a bow to the uninitiated.  
Set is when, as Joe states above, the wood fibers in the belly crushes, as they all do to some degree upon tillering and shooting, which causes the limbs not to spring back to their original position.  So you can have set on a bow that was originally, naturally or artifically, reflexed 3" unstrung, meaning the limbs are leaning away from the shooter when held up without it being strung, but after tillering and shooting it holds 1" of reflex.  It "took a set" but it does not follow the string.  The limb tips are still beyond the riser, or at least in line with the back of the riser.
String Follow is when the limbs of the bow are no longer reflexed or straight but are deflexed toward the shooter.  This, too can be a natural or an artifical condition of the bow depending on the stave or the desired design of the bow.  Set can cause string follow but some designs and bowers incorporate string follow intentionally as it is said to allow a more forgiving bow.  And some bows take a string follow due to the woods used (set taking tendencies) and the the tillering practices of the bower (inexperienced, kind of like m3!).
I hope this helps shed light on it better.

A Glossary of the bower's definition would be a good list to pin to this forum for the benefit of us all.

[Pat B]

In the back of TBB-IV there is a pretty complete glossary of terms and their meanings.

[ckanous]

I need to get all TBB's, been talking about it long enough. I know there is great info in them. Thanks for the replies and feel free to keep them coming, i would like to learn all I can.