bows-tunability

[Night Wing]

There are a lot of variable to be taken into consideration. But for me, I find bows which are cut 3/16" past center are the easiest for me to tune and shoot very well.

[jhg]

I have a bow that was very fussy until I modified the shelf. The way it came it was very hard to set up or tweek.
 It didn't take much- moved the contact point reaward to above the low part of the grip and (probably the most important thing)squared the shelf off to the window so that it was no longer tilted away from it. Just having a shelf that was square side to side was major. Front to back its radiused.
 
Now I can change my rest and side plate material/set up to get that easy to shoot behavior.

Joshua

[kennym]

Originally posted by jess stuart:
I like my bow to be just shy of center shot, the window is actually cut past center then built back out when tuning.  Someone much wiser than me (Paul Comstock I think) said that if the window is shy of center the arrow will flex more consistenly each and every shot.  I certainly can't prove or disprove that thinking, it just made sense at the time.  I know even how hard the material the sideplate is made of will have an affect on how the arrow shoots.

I beleive the same, I want my arrow to be forced to bend the same direction (away from sideplate each time) with every shot. Lord knows I can use all the help I can get!!!  

[AkDan]

Flint,  How does one tell if a guys ground down a side to get movement?  I dont build though I've tinkered with bbo's a little here and there.   what else should someone be looking for in a bow that makes it more forgiving or easier to shoot.

I remember reading at one point in one of the older mags and in some older threads over the years on grips and their impact on shootablity.  Thoughts?

I'll have to check tiller again.  And compare it to the bow that was a dream to shoot.  Unfortunatly it has a hairline crack in the riser so it hangs on the wall is about all these days.  

JHG, not sure I'm following on the shelf tilted away....meaning sloped down and not creating a 'notch' (titled up)?  This one is I think pretty square and radiused on both.  I havent put a square to it to find out though.

[flint kemper]

Dan, well when they grind one side of the limb to get string aligment it can do alot to alter the limbs when you start to draw the bow back and the further you draw it it could exaggerate the problem. Checking by sight while looking over the bow from one end under good light. See if the tips on either end seem to be pointing off and look to seee if the limbs look symetrical as well is a start.

[jhg]

Originally posted by AkDan:
This one is I think pretty square and radiused on both.  I havent put a square to it to find out though.

Sounds like you are ok in  that regard then.

[Sixby]

Originally posted by flint kemper:
Dan I would personally start with checking string aligment on the bow and sighting down the limbs from the belly side. There are alot of bows out there that the bowyers have ground the heck out of one side of the limb to get the string tracking correctly. That is not the solution to it. If your string is not tracking straight you have to figure out why before proceeding most do not; believe me if guys only new what to look for they would be shocked at what they found on there bows. Fancy woods and all do not cut it for me I can nitpick a bow apart. Good luck and I have looked at alot of bows.

Great post, I heartily agree with all except the fancy woods statement.A lot of bows have notches cut wrong, strings tracking off center. limbs not timed ect. These all contribute to the problem being talked about here.

God bless you all, Steve

[AkDan]

Well I've been doing more tinkering.  

Its funny, after the last week of poking and proding with this bow I'm right back to where I started spine wise to begin with.   She definatly likes a smaller window of spine than I'm used too.

The more I play and make some small changes, the more I'm thinking its nothing more than grip placement on this bow.  I remember changing my grip a couple years back shortly after buying this one.   Somewhere in there I must have shifted back to my old grip or something in between.   That alone made a world of difference.  

I think I just named this one.....the red headed stepchild.   lol

I plan on having a buddy check out the timing on her.   tiller is on, things look fine though I wish the nocks were cut a little deeper.  Gotta be careful the loops arent overly large or they'll literally pop out.   I have a couple more of them and haven't hardly shot either, matter of fact one is literally brand new, no rest no grip, only shot a couple of times..the other is the ready reserve.  

Thanks for the advice!   At some point I'm going to tinker with building, and these are the kinds of threads that'll hopefully keep me from reinventing the wheel when that day comes.