3 piece longbow noise reduction

[McDave]

I have a three piece longbow that is louder than I would like it to be.  I also have recurve limbs for the same riser, and they are not as loud as the longbow limbs, which is surprising to me.  The noise is a sort of a clanking sound with some vibrating noise as well, like you would get if the arrow shaft were slapping the riser, but I have experimented with arrows of different weights and spines, and don't think the arrow shaft is slapping the riser.

Since there is no contact of the string with the limbs, other than at the limbtips, I suppose I can eliminate string slap.

There are some Velcro strips that came with the riser where the limbs mount to the riser, which I would think would eliminate a clanking sound between the limbs and the riser.  I tightened the limb bolts as much as I thought was safe.

I thought maybe the noise was being made where the aligning pins on the riser go into holes in the limbs, so I filled the holes partially with silicone sealer up to the level where the pins in the riser press down and compact the silicone sealer in the holes when the limb bolt is tightened.  This did seem to reduce the noise some, but the longbow limbs are still louder than the recurve limbs.

Any other ideas?

[Pine]

I have a Bear Takedown and with the 60# limbs it was making a cracking noise .
The guy at the archery shop told me to rub some string wax on the part that goes into the riser .
It's quite now and no noise .
Don't know if that would work for what you have , but just a thought .

[Mitch Edwards]

I've got a 3pc tomahawk longbow that was pretty loud for a longbow. No strange noise from the riser just typical bow string noise and the bow itself kinda rang after the shot. I put the stick on bow jax on the limbs just past the ends of the riser and they did wonders for the bow. I've got a set of monster jax on my super kodiak and they helped more than anything. You might get a pair of calipers and check the hole size in the limbs. If they aren't to big try a strip of tar paper or gasket material between the limb and riser. Keep tinkerin and you'll get it quiet

[elkken]

Do you shoot both sets of limbs at the same brace ? I also have a LB that is a tad noisy but it is more of a thump than what you are describing ... I think your zeroing in on the riser and limb attachment area is a good one. As a last resort I would try some thing like limb savers to see if that helped and perhaps a string change. I have had some great results just by changing strings to a different material.

[redshedbowhunter]

MY TD makes a click at the first draw, after that it is quieter.  I wonder if the oscillation of the longbow limbs is slightly off.  Can you mount the limbs either way (is there a top or bottom).  To change oscillation of string you could place the silencers at different spots on the string.

 http://www.tradbow.com/public/Heterodyning.cfm

[nineworlds9]

I would also consider string.  I have found bows to make strange sounds when the string either has too many or too few twists in the string, this is why a quality custom length string is of such great benefit.  I have also experimented with all manner of silencing materials and for me anyway, yarn or fur is only suitable for inherently quiet bows.  Heavy wool silencers like String Scallops or Navajo are somewhere in the middle, and last but not least my favorite:  rubber cat whiskers...these to me provide the greatest dampening benefit.  If you aren't using them already try some, start at the 1/4 points on the string and adjust out as needed.  Also be sure your nocks aren't too tight.  They should clip but not tightly grab the serving.  Too tight and they can also cause additional noise.

Also if you haven't already consider switching to something like Fury, Rhino, or BCY-X.  These materials in my experience are also very helpful for quieting a bow.

[katman]

My guess is limbs are out of time.

[huntingarcher]

I get those noises if the brace height is a little to low.

[McDave]

Originally posted by katman:
My guess is limbs are out of time.

Could limbs be out of time even if bare shafts fly straight?  The tiller is zero, and I shoot 3 under.  Could limbs still be out of time?

[nineworlds9]

I dont think that's it.  I've had bows with tiller way off and played a lot with ILF to change tiller positive and negative, split and three under and rarely was the tiller to blame for noise.  I would address limb to riser interface, string construction, silencing material, and brace heights first before lamenting tiller. Just MHO.  measure from string to tip of fades and if measurement is equal or close to equal, 0 to 1/8" difference I wouldn't worry at all.

[McDave]

Thanks Nineworlds.  That's what I'll do.  If the limbs are out of time, probably not much I can do about it anyway, since the tiller is not adjustable, so no point in worrying about it.

[ozy clint]

pluck the string and see if it is limb tip vibration. grab the string straight after plucking and watch for limb vibration.

if there is vibration there i have a solution.

if that isn't the source of the noise you speak of then not sure.

i recently transformed my recurve that had noisy limbs into 'longbow' quiet.

[Bladepeek]

I'm also wondering if the flat surface of the limb where it lies on the riser is not truly flat. It could be rocking very slightly. A thin layer of cushioning might help (moleskin?). And, to paraphrase the "read the directions" advice, contact the bowyer to see if he has a solution.

[katman]

Originally posted by McDave:
 

Originally posted by katman:
My guess is limbs are out of time.

Could limbs be out of time even if bare shafts fly straight?  The tiller is zero, and I shoot 3 under.  Could limbs still be out of time? [/b]

You had not mentioned you were in tune with bare shaft in op. Does your nock point height remain the same with both limbs and use same shaft? I would think the recurve would deliver more energy so would need a stiffer spine.

So you have a lot of vibration going on. Could be limb to riser interface, arrow slap or perhaps not enough preload in the limbs due to brace height or limb design. Interesting problem.

[Crittergetter]

Originally posted by huntingarcher:
I get those noises if the brace height is a little to low.

This ^^^^^^^^
Solved my problems after I tried everything else. Ended up at 8 1/8" brace height on one of my bows. Higher than I ever thought to go

[katman]

McDave, don't know answer to your question,  can the bow be bare shaft tuned and limbs out of timing? Might get the answer on the bow builder forum.

[McDave]

Arrows have been bare shaft tuned to the bow, for both the recurve and the longbow.  It is a 45# 64" longbow, and shoots GT 3555 shafts with 145 grain points perfectly.  There are separate strings for the longbow and the recurve, because the nock points are in different places for each.  Right now, I'm using the strings that came with the bows.  The strings that came with the bows are too long, in my opinion, and have to be twisted excessively to get the right brace height.  As one person suggested, maybe I should raise the brace height even more, and then the strings would really be too long.  However, the string I use for the recurve has more twists in it than the one for the longbow, and as I said, it is quieter than the longbow.  But since I should probably make new strings for them anyway. I might as well do that and see what effect it has on the noise.  When I make a new string and try a higher brace height, I'll report back.

[kennym]

On an experimental 3 pc longbow, I made the nocks about line up with bow back, it was noisy. Next experiment was building a riser with an angle of pads that moved the limb tips forward(to target) about an inch+ ahead of the back of handle.

Much quieter, an faster to boot. More preload on limbs didn't let them vibrate as much at loose of arrow. (Similar to raising brace I guess)


Not saying this is what causes your noise, just saying what my test bow(s) did..

Good luck, you will find it!

[Possum Head]

Kinda strange reading a question from a man that's always been there to answer ours. Hope you get it figured out bud. Brace height has always been responsible for all my noise issues. It creeps in so slow with string stretch.

[ranger 3]

McDave, find a couple of O-rings the size of the pins and put them on the pins and then put the limbs on and see if that helps.