Hollenbeck Curvature

[akoutdoors]

I picked up a Hollenbeck at a garage sale for 35$. Seems to shoot well.
Bow is marked 4" longer than actual length. I was puzzled by this. Now I think I've bought a bow that has been cut down a bit.
Another clue: the limbs don't seem to have the same degree of curvature at the tips as the other recurves I see. (I've always shot LB)
If the bow has been cut back, what is the likely resultant change in draw weight and general bow performance?
Thanks

[PAPALAPIN]

If it was done right it should be no problem,  It will have a higher draw weight at the same draw length, however, it will be a bit stiffer and stack more.

It probably is now more of a semi recurve and will not have the same feel of a full working recurve.

I know of two guys that had broken off one tip of their bows.  Instead of chunking them, they reworked the new tips into a semi recurve bow.  Obviously they did not shoot the same after the modification, but they were ueable.

[akoutdoors]

Stack more?

[PAPALAPIN]

A bow has a certain feel to it.  a good bow pulls smoothly and at the end of the draw, the weight on your drawing hand stays pretty constant.  When a bow "stacks", it seems to feel stiff at the end of the draw, and every inch more pull increases the weight more than the previous inch, and feels really heavy to hold.  

I know there is a better way to describe "stacking", but that is about the best I can do.

This does not mean that the bow wil lbe unshootable, especially if you have a shorter than normal draw.

[Dan Worden]

Brian,

How did you measure the bow? Recurves are measured following every curve on the bow. If you don't do that the measurement will be shorter than labelled.

[PAPALAPIN]

"Bow is marked 4" longer than actual length"

Normal measurement whould show the bows actual length 3-4" shorter than the actual length andshould equal the length marked on the bow.

However, he states it is marked 4" longer than actual length.  IF he measured it wrong, straight line tip to tip, it would have been shorter than the marked length.  

I string my bows backward when storing, and usually find that the actual string length is abotu the same as tip to tip unstrung.

Rule of thumb is a bow string actually measures about 3" short of AMO, or marked length.

A string on an AMO 60" bow is about 57"

DAN - Can you give a better description of "stacking"?

[Dan Worden]

Here's my best shot

Stack by definition is when the force draw curve starts to vary dramatically. Most bows draw about 3#'s per inch. Once they hit a certain point that may increase to 4,5,6 or even more pounds per inch. The amount the draw varies is relative to the amount of "stack."

Basically once you get back to a certain draw length the bow starts to feel "heavier"  kind of like it's hitting a wall. The smooth feel just goes away and it feels "harder" to draw than you would expect.

I think we're chasing our tail on the length issue.  :D  

"Bow is marked 4" longer than actual length"

If it is marked 60" AMO and the actual length (tip to tip ) is 56" then it looks to be normal. If it's 56" tracing the curves then somebody has been doing some woodwork.

[PAPALAPIN]

Well said on "STACKING"

Normally a good bow will not stack until it is drawn well past it's inteded draw length, so stacking is never really noticed.  If it starts stacking befor the normal draw length, that's is when you have a problem.

AKOUTDOORS - I hope we have answerd your question.

[akoutdoors]

Thank you very much guys.
About the length. It is 4" shorter than the distance measuring the curvature of the bow. It seems that "woodworking" is likely.  
What you said about stacking seems true. It gets heavy at full draw. Being a LB shooter typically, I thought it might be a recurve thing.
Thanks again for the knowledge.