Installing Deer Antler Burr Knobs?

[Two Flints]

Hello all,

I was about to add a pair of deer antler burr knobs to my recurve - never did this before - so is there a proper way to do it? Do you need to add washers and/or bevels from the original standard limb bolts? If you don't use some type of separation (washers or/and bevels) don't you run the risk of scratching the limb surface when you tighten down the antler deer burr knobs?

Need your guidance on this, and thanks for any help!

Two Flints

[McDave]

Hi Fred, welcome to TradGang!

Equipment questions should be posted to PowWow.  Maybe a moderator will move this over there for you.

I only have one bow at the moment with antler burr knobs.  It is a Schafer Silvertip.  However the limbs are normally fastened to the riser, beveled, etc., you should match with your antler burr knobs.

In the case of the Schafer Silvertip, the standard limb bolt mounts flat on top of a nylon washer used to protect the finish of the limb.  The antler burr limb bolt is therefore made to mount flat as well.  You can see in the photos below how this looks, mounted and unmounted.  Schafer mounts a stud into the riser rather than using a standard limb bolt, but the process of fastening the limbs to the riser is the same as most other bows.

I once bought a set of antler burr limb bolts from some hobbyist who was making them, and they didn't last very long because the adhesive used to hold the bolt into the antler burr was not very strong, and the bond between the antler burr and the limb bolt broke after the first few times I tightened it.  AFAIK, this has never happened with well made antler burr limb bolts, such as those made by Schafer and Black Widow, but they are quite expensive.

[Two Flints]

David, 

Many thanks for your reply.  I feel kind of stupid.  When installing my antler deer knobs onto my limbs I did not take into account the drop/hanging down piece on the deer knob - see the photo pointed to by black arrows.  So as I twisted down the antler deer knob I scratched the surface of my limb.   

Even using a washer wouldn't have helped as the washer wouldn't be thick enought to offset the downward piece of the deer knob.  Maybe I should have used the bezel from the original steel limb bolts as a thicker separator along with the washer.

Thanks for your reply and photos.

FredSG

[McDave]

I think you should have used the bezel from the original steel limb bolts, to keep everything consistent, but as you say, even that may not have provided sufficient clearance for the part of the antler burr that points downward.  You may have to grind a little off of that.