Rotational draw and limb twist

[Sirius Black]

I've taken to using a rotational draw, and it seems to be working well, but I heard that it can over time, twist limbs in a recurve bow. Is this true, or maybe I misunderstood?  

[McDave]

What could cause limb twist is if you torque the bow. If you hold the bow handle loosely so it doesn't torque, I don't see why the rotational draw would be any more likely to cause limb twist than any other method.

[moebow]

Yes, When using a rotational draw, the bow turns IN your hand.  There is no "twist" force on the limbs.

Arne

[Sirius Black]

Thanks guys! This was one man's reason for choosing the longbow over the recurve. He thinks that it isn't using a stringer that can twist limbs, but it's a rotational draw that is causing it. Just curious, because I have a new set of recurve limbs.

[McDave]

That is a valid reason to choose the longbow. I've never heard of a longbow developing limb twist, but it's fairly common with a recurve.

I think some recurves, even from well known bowyers, have a tendency toward limb twist because of a slight weakness on one side of the limb or the other. The instructional material that comes with the bow shows how to remove the limb twist, which is effective if the twist is small, but my experience is that the twist comes back within a short time if it is caused by a structural imbalance.

Other times, the twist is caused by something the user did, like stringing the bow improperly.  As long as this was a one-time thing, and not too severe, this kind of twist can often be removed permanently.

If you buy a recurve that has a small amount of twist in it, it can be kind of a tough situation to deal with. If the bow was used, I would just send it back for a refund. If new, the bowyer might try to fix it, and if he does, then you're going to have to use it for a while to see if the twist comes back. If it doesn't, then fine. If it does, then you have to send it back again. At this point, it becomes kind of a tough situation for the bowyer, too, since the twist could have been caused by the user, which is why it's important to notice any twist early on, before it's likely that you caused it.  You just have to hang in there if the twist was caused by defects in the material, and hopefully you'll eventually get a new limb made.

While limb twists in longbows are rare, and I do like longbows, I still like shooting recurves better. It's rare to have a defect in materials, and once I get past that, I know I'm not going to do anything to twist the limbs myself, so it becomes pretty much of a non-issue for me with a recurve after the initial break-in period.