how to quiet recurve

[bowgy]

One of my recurves I just can't seem to quiet.  I have big cat whiskers on the string,  bow hush yarn on the strings where they contact the limb, the brace height is within the bowyer's  parameters, the shelf and riser have velcro and the nock point is similar to all of my other bows. I really like the bow and it shoots where I look but I don't want to take it hunting because when I shoot ( either wood or aluminum arrows ) it sounds like a bat hitting a baseball! Anyone have any ideas?

[L82HUNT]

If you can shoot FF on it you maybe surprised what a lower strand count string can do as far as noise.

I have a recurve that was quite loud with a fast flight and almost as loud with an endless loop Dacron, I put a 12 strand three ply Dacron with the loops padded to 15 strands and it got deadly quiet.
Quiet is always deadlier than fast and loud.

[Gil Verwey]

Something else must be happening. I have never had a recurve I couldn't quiet with Bow hush and cat whiskers, if it was the bow making noise.

You say with aluminum and wood it makes noise, does that mean with smaller diameter shafts of carbon arrows it doesn't. If that is the case your knock point may be too low with the larger diameter shafts. If so the arrow could be smacking the outside of the shelf. I had a Dale Dye that would do that. Try raising the knock point a 1/8th at a time and see if that gets rid of the noise.

I use 450+ 6 strand strings and that quiets the bow, reduces hand shock and improves performance. But to me it sound like the arrow is hitting the outside of the shelf.

Good luck
Gil

[bowgy]

I never shoot carbon and the knock point is at almost 7/8" most of my recurves I shoot at 5/8" or less ( three under )  I wonder if a softer shelf material might help?  I'll try ordering a string to pavan's specifications..

[Gil Verwey]

One to make sure the knock is right is to shoot a bare shaft at a bale or through paper. Have you done any bare shaft tuning with the arrow?

[bowgy]

I've never done any bare shaft tuning but I have five or six other recurves that are quiet.

[bowgy]

Tomorrow I'll try shooting a few shots with the arrow lower and see if it is as loud.

[Spitfire Htr]

If it's a takedown, you might be getting some noise from the limb pockets. A little string wax applied under the limbs where they contact the riser may help.

[Keefer]

David,
 Have you tried wool puffs instead of catwhiskers and I had somewhat of a noise problem in one of my bows so I made two tie on nocks...One above and one below and that made quite a bit of difference as well...Like others have said proper nock placement will help also...There are some good pics and video in the "How To " section on making a tie on nock...
                               Keefers <><

[Keefer]

[ron w]

You say the brace is within what the bowyer recommends....That's not cast in stone....raise or lower it to suit your needs, I always wind up higher they they say it should be.

[Jim Wright]

The 1st thing I would do is bareshaft and fine tune through paper. There is a fair chance that your excessive noise is from incorrect spine and it's easy to check.

[Gil Verwey]

Bowgy I take everything I said back.

I just realized you are a 3 under shooter. I would love to shoot 3 under but I have NEVER been able to quiet my bows down 3 under.

That is why I gave up on trying to switch to 3 under. My bows all sound like I am dry firing them. It scares the heck out of me.

The only thing I can assume on my side is I didn't have bows tillered for 3 under.

Good luck I will be interested to see what quiets your bow down. Maybe there is still hope for me for 3 under. Especially since Bob Wesley told me, "Gil it is hard to beat a 3 under shooter". That was all I had to hear.

Gil

[Walter Mauney]

Originally posted by Jim Wright:
The 1st thing I would do is bareshaft and fine tune through paper. There is a fair chance that your excessive noise is from incorrect spine and it's easy to check.

 
It sounds like the spine of your arrows is too stiff. The rear part of your arrow may be hitting the riser.