bow length as marked.......is it right?

[ozy clint]

i have a little problem with a bow i have.
it's a takedown recurve marked at 58" AMO.
i send the riser back to the bowyer to have a set of 60" AMO limbs made. i get it back and they are the same length. same string braces it the same. i send it back to have some 60" AMO limbs remade for it and i'm told that they were infact 60". how can this be? AMO standards must mean squat. they say they have changed thier limb design since my original 58" limbs were made. i always thought 60" is longer than 58"?

anyone seen bows side by side that are physically the same length but are marked differently?

i'm confused  :confused:

[BWD]

Originally posted by ozy clint:
i always thought 60" is longer than 58"?
i'm confused   :confused:  

Me too...must be somewhere within the modern math.  

[JRY309]

When making strings for some of my bows they are not always marked accurately.I've had 3 different 64" AMO longbows,and there was about 3/4" difference between them from nock to nock.When ever I'm making a string I like to measure the actual nock to nock length.These even happens on some factory bows.I have a Martin Savannah I make a 59" string for a 62" AMO.Then I picked up another Savannah,made a new string for it and it was too long.I thought I didn't have the peg in the right hole.Then measured the bow,and it was 60.5" AMO nock to nock even though it was marked 62" AMO.So I made a string to fit the bows actual length.

[KentuckyTJ]

I have four 58" bows. Strung there is 1-3/4" difference in them all.

[wingnut]

The key to AMO is not the bow length but the string length for bracing at the recommended BH.

So a 60" AMO bow will take a 57" string to brace at recommended BH.

Measure you string and you'll have the answer.

Might be that the 58" bow is in fact 60"

Mike

Once upon a time I had two 58" bows from the same bowyer--except one was 60"......

 

Maybe the first ones were just mismarked? Take a soft measureing tape and measure the bow along the back from string groove to string groove. That should give you a definitive answer.

BTW, what bow it that for?

Well, I just learned something I had not nown before! Thanks, wingnut.

Bisch

[kat]

Did you send back the riser, to get the limbs fitted to?
The reason I ask is because some bowyers make different length risers that will affect AMO length. Perhaps there was a difference of 2" in the riser length that the bowyer didn't know about.

[wtpops]

A limb design can change the over all length and not change the AMO or vise versa. i have a 62" black widow and a 64" border black Douglas and both are the same over all length, but when you measure them AMO they are 62" and 64". As far as them taking the same string length,that is strange.

[michbowhunter]

Originally posted by wingnut:
The key to AMO is not the bow length but the string length for bracing at the recommended BH.

So a 60" AMO bow will take a 57" string to brace at recommended BH.

Measure you string and you'll have the answer.

Might be that the 58" bow is in fact 60"

Mike

X2

[ozy clint]

the riser is the same for both limbs. the string length is 56 1/2". one set says 58" one set says 60". brace height is the same on both with the same string.

[Kip]

Ozy    If it is your Bob Lee when I bought my first Lee 58" it was 1" longer than my 58" Howett Hunter.I called Rob about it and he told me that was his 58" length.I compareed it to other bows and it was always a little longer than a few others by about 1/2" to 1".I like the bows so much I just forget about it.Don't see how 58" and 60" should be that close though if 60" is also longer than other brands.Kip

[LBR]

"AMO standards must mean squat."

AMO only means anything if the bowyer followed AMO specs.  AMO says the bow should be marked 3" longer than the "string master" (steel cable) that puts it at proper brace.

Some bows are marked according to AMO, some are not (obviously).  Besides that, you may like a particular bow braced at 6.75", I like it at 7.5"--that could mean near an inch difference in string length.

My guess is your first bow was marked wrong.  Take a flexible tape measure, like a tailor's tape.  Start at the top of the string groove, follow the contour of the limb, through the center of the riser, follow the contour of the other limb, to the top of the other string groove.  That should give you the AMO bow length, or very close.  If you don't have a flexible tape measure, use a string then lay the string out straight and measure it.

When possible, I take string orders by actual string length--measure the string that is on the bow that fits/braces properly, then order that length.  That is the most accurate way I know of.

Chad

[sledge]

[sledge]

in my (limited) experience, with longbows, it is not.

my friend admired my neet strung longbow case.

since my 68" robertson barely fit, i told him his 69" jerry hill would not.

he tried it anyway.  turns out a 68" robertson is a half-inch longer than a 69" jerry hill.

strung.

joe

[wingnut]

Yep looks like both bows are 59 1/2 AMO so they are 60" bows.

Mike

[ozy clint]

i originally ordered two sets of 58" limbs when i first bought the bow. the latter set that is marked 60" is the same length as these. i doubt that the original two sets are both marked incorrectly.

okay, so if your bows don't conform to AMO specs so what, just don't mark them with AMO length. i just didn't expect to order two different length limbs for the same riser and have them be both the same. still talking with the bowyer about it.
just wondered if this could be possible.
i still can't wrap my head around it.

[overbo]

Found this differences w/ my Zippers to the other makes I own.The Zipper seems to be a 58'' bow when compared to the other's 60''.I can't switch strings from the Zipper to the others and yes the Zipper is marked 60''.

[LBR]

"okay, so if your bows don't conform to AMO specs so what, just don't mark them with AMO length."

That would be the simple solution.  AMO is the standard, but when the standard isn't followed it just causes confusion.  No idea why it's not followed--but it's the same with strings, even draw length (for a while there was at least one bowyer marking his bows according to "true draw", as he called it, rather than AMO).

"i just didn't expect to order two different length limbs for the same riser and have them be both the same. still talking with the bowyer about it.
just wondered if this could be possible."

No, it's not.  

Since the 56.5" string fits both "lengths" and puts them both at the same brace, they are both 60" AMO.  Again though, that only matters if the bowyer marks his limbs according to AMO specs.

Chad