HH bug got me ... Part One!

[longbowben]

Wow this got deep today.My heads spinning.

[SpankyNeal]

Originally posted by sunset hill:
All this talking....you guys are keeping me out of the bowshop!  lol.lol.

Uh oh, that's not good news for me!    

[longbowben]

Ok someone post a string follow bow so some new  people can see what you are talking about.I didnt understand untill i saw the pictures myself .Thanks

[SpankyNeal]

The limbs bend slightly towards the belly (shooters) side of the bow when unbraced.

 

[longbowben]

Thanks SpankyNeal.This is a very good topic i just might have to give one a try.Just dont tell my wife what im thinking.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by sunset hill:
... Rob,  one of the most critical, if not the most, elements of a proper Hill style bow is limb tiller/bend at full draw.  Compare Hill's limb bend on his personal laminated bows with Schulz's personal bows and they are identical.  This was very important to Schulz in bowmaking.  I try for this same bend in my bows and Schulz has confirmed this to me.  You are an interesting case....you very well might need a shorter bow than you have always thought in order to get that proper limb bend.  But, as I've said, there are many factors in deciding how to build the bow to fit you...not just bowlength, not just grip profile, etc.

interesting.  your comments are new to me and go against typical hill style dogmatic thinking and trends.  

i don't have a clue to understanding how hand size fits into the bow length equation.

so, make me a believer - build me a sunset hill.  pm or email me and let's get me into your bow building lineup so i can expect to get it somewhere in 2012, before the world falls apart.    

you have a pm .......

[David Mitchell]

Here is a shot of a Hill string follow (on the right) and a Northern Mist (on the left).  Steve puts a bit more string follow on his bow than Craig does.

 

[droz il]

Really enjoying this topic. Great information. Thanks to all involved.

[Mudd]

I love the eye candy David!! Those are wonderful to behold but I'm betting that they are even more awesome to "be-holding"...lol

Thanks to everyone for the pictures!! Please don't be bashful folks, keep them coming it's out-of-season here and the ground has 8 inches of fresh snow on it this morning so I'm not going anywhere in my little two wheel drive Ranger.

God bless,Mudd

PS: Since my wife is staying with our daughter and granddaughter I think I'll start looking around in here to see if there's enough space for a short indoor range...lol

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Mudd:
... PS: Since my wife is staying with our daughter and granddaughter I think I'll start looking around in here to see if there's enough space for a short indoor range...lol

there's always room to shoot indoors, even in a tiny room.  i did that for years while working on form at 15 feet ... just use a GOOD backstop!  :D

[tradlongbow]

Rob-

I agree about shooing inside; years ago I was working a job almost everyday and lived in a townhouse with a beautiful view of a lake but no back yard to shoot in. So I would shoot from the livingroom through the hall to the frontdoor, and for a treestand I would shoot from the second floor down the stairway into the dining area. When I sold the place, I had to repair the holes in the steel front door. It was fun and I could shoot everyday.

Darren

[leatherneck]

 Thanks goodness for bowyers.

Pretty interesting reading though.

[Rob DiStefano]

mike, i gotta thoroughly agree with ya.  all this stuff is interesting to me, but we all know that ANY stick 'n' string will kill kritters if we allow them to do so.  we all gotta keep that foremost in mind.

[leatherneck]

Originally posted by Rob DiStefano:
mike, i gotta thoroughly agree with ya.  all this stuff is interesting to me, but we all know that ANY stick 'n' string will kill kritters if we allow them to do so.  we all gotta keep that foremost in mind.

[SpankyNeal]

I hope I say this right! My understanding is that hand size determines the depth of the grip. The deeper the grip the farther away the limb apex is from your anchor, so the farther the limbs must bend. If you measure draw length to the far side of the shelf, a deeper grip gives you a longer draw requiring the bow length and tiller to be adjusted to maintain the proper arc of the limbs. The position of your wrist never changes, but the draw length measurement will based upon the depth of the grip.

Now that i've totally confused all of you i'm gonna take a nap!        

Spanky

[Greg Skinner]

Spanky,before you take your nap could you answer a question for me. Am I to understand that a person with a small hand would then use a shorter bow length than someone with a larger hand?  You may have stated it somewhere previously, but what is the length of your "White Dragon" bow?  

This has been an extremely interesting thread. Just when I thought I knew everything there was to know about Hill bows along comes a thread like this!

My hands are small and my draw length is about the same as yours - 26 3/4, so I like the 66" length for my Hills, but then I've never tried a shorter length.

[SpankyNeal]

Like Nate said there is more to it than that, but in general my impression has been yes. "White Dragon" is 66" long and that is what Nate recommended for my draw and hand size which I guess is about average. It's riser depth is right at 2" and it fits perfectly! I've had a Hill Redman and a NM Classic that both had much smaller risers and they both felt and performed like a longer bow even though they were also 66" in length (slower and felt like the limbs were not loading up enough...just like a 68" bow feels to me). I know that is not a definitive test but it makes sense to me. Steve Turay told me that with his reverse handle bow the Whisper, you could nock off two inches of bow length and have it still feel and perform the same as the longer bow because the reverse handle moves the limbs at the handle 2" closer to the anchor point. Bow length coupled with proper tiller for your draw are critical in a Hill bow....too long and you lose performance, too short and stability and smoothness suffer. So when you pick a Hill bow it's imperative to talk to the bowyer and provide him with an EXACT draw length measurement and tracing of your hand so the bow can be properly built and tillered for you! There is so much difference in a Hill that has been truly custom made for you and one that was not that it's like the difference in night and day!

Spanky

I have been thinking about getting a 70" Hill blank and taking a run to see if I could get it to function at my 26.5" draw.  I would maybe need to reverse trap a very whip ended bow, tempting.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by pavan:
I have been thinking about getting a 70" Hill blank and taking a run to see if I could get it to function at my 26.5" draw.  I would maybe need to reverse trap a very whip ended bow, tempting.

i would think 70" is overkill for a draw length under 27"?  66" sounds mo' bettah to me ... ?

[Oliverstacy]

Originally posted by Wannabe1:
I've been reading along and find this to be most educating. Thank you guys for sharing this info.      

I have been doing the same today on this!

Very...Very interesting indeed!

Josh