Are string grooves on a recurve really necessary?

[AndyTurner]

The reason I ask is, string grooves are typically very shallow, say 2mm, if you then add a “string silencer pad” then IMO that pretty much fills in the groove anyway thus negating the effect of the string groove.

So are string grooves really necessary?

Thanks
Andy

[Buemaker]

After my thinking I would say yes. If your limb alignment and shooting technique, release were 150 % perfect  probably not. Me certainly not and if that bowstring slams home a tiny bit off center it will drop into that grove.
Would be interesting to see a high speed film of it. I have no scientific proof to say this though.

[KenH]

I don't think grooves are necessary.  The string groove is AFAIK a 20th century invention, and they've been making recurves for something like 5000 years.  Some, but not all, of the wood-horn-sinew Scythian bows from 2500-300 years ago had short string grooves, but they also had nearly 270 degree semi-circular recurves which you can't get easily with modern materials.  Turkish crab- bows don't have string grooves.  Some ancient bows with foot long or longer contact (string-follow) siyahs had string pads added to the limbs but not gouged into them.

[Bowjunkie]

It depends. Some need them. Some don't. I've made recurves where the outer limbs where the string touches is practically round. They seem to like em.

I've never needed a 'string silencer pad' so can't speak to that.

[Mad Max]

Yes
On Fiberglass bows

[Crooked Stic]

What Bue said.

[Mad Max]

If you add a pad over the string groove the string will still fall into the groove.