Bow string length?

[katman]

Here is a paragraph pasted from Bob Lee's site regarding string length. Would not a 62" AMO bow use a 59" string? ie. 3" shorter.

"STRING LENGTH
Your bow's AMO (Archery Manufacturer and Merchant's Organization) length is marked on its lower limb. To achieve the correct brace height you will need to use a bowstring of the same AMO length. (Example: An AMO 62” bow requires an AMO 62” string). The actual length of your bowstring will be 4”-5” shorter than its marked AMO length."

[nhbuck1]

should be 4 inches shorter i believe 3 inches for longbow

[katman]

Here is the AMO guide from a trad gang post, 3"

 http://www.tradgang.com/amo/amo.pdf

Don't know why Mr. Lee's site says 4-5"

[damascusdave]

There really is no such thing as a standard that everyone follows

DDave

[Orion]

There isn't a standard that everyone follows, but there is an AMO standard, and it's 3 inches shorter than the bow length for both recurves and longbows. i.e., a 62-inch bow should take a 59-inch string, if it follow the AMO standard.

Actually, the way it's stated is that the correct string length is a the length required to brace the bow at the recommended brace height, which is generally 3 inches shorter than the AMO bow length.

[LBR]

http://texasarchery.org/Documents/AMO/AMOStandards.pdf

AMO says the bow is supposed to be labeled 3" longer than the string master (steel cable) that puts the bow at proper brace.  The string is to be measured at a 100# load (except 8 or 10 strand dacron strings, to be measured under a 50# load).

   

A Bow String Master designated as AMO 66” (bow length) will have an actual length under tension of 63”."

That being said, a lot of bows aren't correctly marked.  I learned a long time ago to ask for actual string length because there are so many people that are mistaken about what "AMO" means, including bowyers.

[katman]

I was hoping you would post Chad, thanks.

Orion, he contradicts himself saying use an AMO string but then says 4-5" shorter than AMO marked length. Just seems unusual that a man of his experience would contradict himself.

[dbd870]

I have found on the 4 older Bears I have/had the string needed to be 4-4.5" shorter to get it braced properly.

[JRY309]

I make all my strings 3" shorter for both my longbows and recurves.That 4" shorter for recurves may have worked for older vintage recurves,they seemed to use a higher brace height in those days.I also like to measure the actual nock to nock length,not all bows are marked accurate.Then I'll make my string 3" shorter.

[Orion]

I agree Katman, he seems to be contradicting himself, but it's confusing so I just chose to clarify the AMO measurement.  

Regarding the example, "An AMO 62” bow requires an AMO 62” string." An AMO 62" string could be interpreted as a 59" string, not an actual 62" length.  Still doesn't jibe with the statement that the string will be 4-5 inches shorter than the Bow's AMO length, though a new string not under tension might be 4 inches or so shorter.      

[DanielB89]

This is in no way against Mr. Bob or his bows.. they are FANTASTIC!! BUT, I owned one once and after reading that on his site, I called him to ask him about string length, it was amazing to me that he didn't know what length string his bow took.  I was told 57.5 for a 62" recuve.  After making a few strings up, it was 58.75 that got the bow at the right brace height.  


I absolutely HATE going by AMO.  Almost every string I've made that was "AMO" i ended up remaking it with the proper length string.

[Bladepeek]

AMO standards are the same as any other standard. People mis-interpret them, ignore them, or don't even understand them. The intent is obvious and admirable, but you simply cannot rely on them being followed by the maker who labled his bow length as "AMO xx".

Not to hijack the op, I recently bought a Java Man Elk Heart and  found that Greg had marked the bow with the AMO length, draw weight @ 28" and actual string length  

[katman]

Bladepeek, That is a good idea Greg has there, hope it catches on.

Daniel, thanks for the input, I was going to contact him but no need to now. I had no intention to bad mouth the bows either. Never had the pleasure to shoot one.

[nhbuck1]

i just emailed them about the length i will let ya know katman

[forestdweller]

It depends on the bow and the string material along with your desired brace height.

My current recurve needs a string that's 4" shorter to get the high brace height that it shoots best at and it still needs to be twisted up to maintain that brace height.

I've also used a string that's 3" shorter than the bow but the bow was too noisy.

[frank bullitt]

Standards for who?  
That was a Big joke!

Take a Pearson, Bear, Wing, Shakespeare, etc from that era, 60" recurve and see what lengths?

Who was going to police or audit these companie?  Fines,

[katman]

Frank, AMO, Archery Manufacturers and Merchants Organization set the standards in 1986 so the earlier era bows were made before this. I think a standard is a good thing for manufacturers and buyers unfortunately some do not follow it as relayed by the string makers frustration who posted. Don't think a police is the answer, just verify from the bowyer what he did. Certainly would make it easier for all if the standards were followed by all.

[frank bullitt]

No Katman Amo was originated in the 60s!

Just to clarify, I built strings for Bob and Rob.

Amo was before the wheeled bows!

[SteveB]

There is no reason a bow (other than a warf/frankenbow etc) should not come with the string length needed for suggested brace height. Somewhere in the build process it was braced with the correct string.

[frank bullitt]

Yes,  SteveB they should!

Chad, LBR made this same statement,  request not to long ago.

Amo is a word loosely used by many in the archery biz!