How to Quiet a Metal ILF

[Greg Clark]

I recently purchased a 15" metal ILF riser.  I also acquired some Winex limbs.  I really like the riser and ability to use a stubby plunger to better tune my setup.  I really like how the bow shoots an arrow.

THE PROBLEM --  I can't get the thing anywhere close to quiet enough that I feel it is huntable.  No matter what I do, the thing is much louder than my non ILF / metal riser bows.  

I am running a fairly high brace height around 8 inches.  

I have 4 Bow Jax on the string at the 1/3 and 1/4 points of the string.

The Winex came with Limbsavers in place.

The string is wrapped with yarn where it contacts the recurved part of the limb.

I am currently shooting 3 under and have run the tiller all over the place trying to see what it likes.  This week I started out with a top limb positive tiller (around 1/4") and ran the tiller all the way to lower limb positive going 1/4 turn at a time.  Even running the tiller thru this full range did not give me a hunting quiet bow.

I even cut some  plastic shelf liner and placed in the limb pockets to see if that would help with vibration.  Did not work!

I did read a comment where some folks mentioned a skinny string (6 or 8 strand).  Currently using a 12 strand string padded to 15 at the loops.  

What am I missing on getting this thing quiet?        

I am thinking about getting some longbow limbs as I love a setup of recurve riser / longbow limbs.  Is this going to take care of most of my noise problem or no?  I still would like to figure out how to quiet a recurve set up however.

Thanks for any/all help.

Greg

[Avid Archer]

Greg check your grip screws, make sure they are tight. Also make sure the brass limb bolt bushings are tight on the bolts. You can wrap the limb bolts with Teflon tape then "screw" the bushing on the bolt up tight against the washer/bezel.  And don't be afraid to go over 8" with brace, especially if using long limbs. Mine seem to be the quietest around 8 3/8- 8 1/2.

[Cherokee Scout]

What grains per pound are you shooting. Generally a heavier arrow will quiet most bows.

[Reaper TN]

Does your riser have those set screws that adjust the lateral movement of the ILF dovetail fitting?  Make sure they are tight, they made a loud buzzing noise at the shot on one of my risers when loose. Blue Loctite worked great.  

[Avid Archer]

[Hobow]

Two problems that contributed to some noise issues that I've had were tight nocks and the plunger arrangement.  I had a plunger that had a metal tip that contacted the shaft, a plastic tipped Berger button solved a lot of the noise transfer.  Teflon tape on the threads to insulate the riser from the plunger may help if there is enough tolerance in the threads to fit it.

Good luck and let us know what worked when you figure it out.

[katman]

Make sure the limb butt is not contacting the riser. sometimes some light sanding to shorten is required.

[Bill Carlsen]

My DAS riser with Winex limbs is whisper quiet at a brace height of 7 3/8 inches. People comment on how quiet it is. I also use Bow Hush and Hush Puppies on it.

[Greg Clark]

OK, I have tightened down all the screws, raised the brace height to 8.5" and ran a few shots thru the bow.  I seemed to get a little bit less noise but still way too noisy for me to think about hunting with it imo.

The limb butts don't appear to be touching the riser.

I am shooting carbon arrows that are about 12 grains per pound with these limbs.

The nocks are not tight.  A slight tap of the string and the arrow falls off.  I already have a small piece of velcro on the end of the plunger button to silence any arrow / plunger noise.

It seems like most of the noise is string vibration.  This is my first experience with Bow Jax string silencers.  Maybe they are not working very well?  Going to switch over to my regular catwhiskers and see if that makes a difference.

[khardrunner]

I like wool yarn puffs on my ILF. I have 4 on there and it is great.

[sawtoothscream]

my titan with the carbon woods was really loud when I switched to endless loop string.  I tried the arn trick and it didnt work. I ordered felt pads to put on the string track and added 4 cat whiskers and its whisper quiet now.

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

I've never had any noise issues with my Titan riser and Winex limbs set at a 7 1/4" brace height and small cat whisker silencers.

[Greg Clark]

Just got back in from a shooting session since switching out one of the Bow Jax for Catwhiskers.  This made a HUGE difference in noise.  I definitely think it is quiet enough to hunt with now.  May continue to tweak a few things to see if I can improve it.  I guess the Bow Jax just were not neutralizing the string noise very well.


Thanks to everyone who chimed in with advice.

Greg

[Bowwild]

Some Bow Jax came with a string and a bow I acquired three years ago. I replaced them right away.

I'm also trying to quieten a Titan 2 with BF Extreme Carbon/Foam limbs. It's not bad but louder than other bows I have. Interestingly, when I put a new pair of Morrison Max 1 limbs on the bow it is noticeably more quiet. I have no idea why that is the case.

I still want to work on the BF Extremes though because they are the smoothest limbs I've ever shot. I just ordered the Bow Hush & Pups to try.

I've been using Cat Whiskers the way the Hawaiian fellows show how to attach on their You Tube Video- much better way than I've used for years!

[Green]

I tried the bow jax a year or so ago....took them off after 4 shots and went back to wool blend puffs....ah, the sound of silence.

[Jim Picarelli]

I have my Sky TDX 15" riser set up shooting Kaya Tomcat C/F long recurve limbs(about 50# on this riser). I shoot it off the shelf with a 12 strand D-97 string with a pair of cat whiskers. Brace is set at 8.25" and "0" tiller. It's a very quiet shooting bow.