HELP!! Black Widow Tuning Fork

[Texoma]

I recently purchased a used BW Short recurve, specs are 56 @ 28'' bow is 60'' shooting an arrow that is 9.6 gpp.

Bow was decently quiet when received but string was trashed so I ordered a new string from BW, bow now sounds like a tuning fork.

Things I have tried, BH was played with went from 8.5''-7.5'' there was no change.

Changed from BW string spiders to cat whiskers small change,adjusted cat whiskers by dividing by 4 then 3 no change.Installed a second set of CW's no change.

Padded the string ends with wool yarn no change.

Any advice on what to try next would be appreciated.

[Orion]

Try a different string made out of a different material. 

[huntingarcher]

Get you a Fury string from Allen at 10 Ring Strings,it will make a huge difference.I could never get those D97 strings from BW to work for me.SBD strings would be another great choice.I use the wool type silencers and they work really well.

[Gen273]

Get you a Fury string from Allen at 10 Ring Strings,it will make a huge difference.I could never get those D97 strings from BW to work for me.SBD strings would be another great choice.I use the wool type silencers and they work really well.

What he said, have Allen build you a string with his wraps and double silencers. I have them on my widows and I love them.

[Texoma]

My other recurve is also 60'' and it has one of Allen's strings on it so tomorrow I will switch em and see what happens.

[Clj]

I’ve had great luck on my widows with mountain muffler strings.

[ron w]

I use the D-97 string and wool puffs, silent as a mouse. Only thing different is my arrow a lot heavier. like 12 gpp.

[M60gunner]

I don’t have much use for D-97 on a BW or a Bear for that matter. I also don’t like to much stuff on my string. A couple cat whiskers should do the job. These days I like BCY X.

[MCS]

Great bow but come with terrible strings.  Get yourself a skinny string from a reputable maker.

[KSdan]

Shot widows for 30 years. Hard/fast shooting bows. Not the most quiet out there, but I get mine quite satisfactory. I get suspicious of adding more stuff to the string as it may simply slow the string down- quieter yes, but some performance loss. I use 1" whiskers at 4 pts.
2 things to consider:
Increase the brace height. I like 8.75-9
Increase the arrow weight. I am shooting what I consider the light end at 12+ gpp. I have shot 13-14 gpp for years.

My thoughts
Dan in KS

[Gnombre]

A few years back I purchased a used Black Widow SA III. I experienced some of the same issues regarding noise level. I ended up changing the string (8125), use wool string silencers, made hide gaskets to fill in the gap between the riser and limb, and shoot 12 gpp arrows. The BW went from being the loudest recurve I owned to one of the most silent.

[BowArkie]

Stik tamers on the limbs really deadened my widow psr and kb..

[Tradarchery]

Like Ksdan, my 58" PCH likes a brace height at 8.75"-9".

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[A.S.]

Kristopher, I don't remember what your other string has for silencers that I built, but I have a pretty good "recipe" for quietening Widows.  I hunt with one myself, and spend a lot of time testing different silencer combos on it.


Give me a shout if you still need some help.


Allen

[Texoma]

Kristopher, I don't remember what your other string has for silencers that I built, but I have a pretty good "recipe" for quietening Widows.  I hunt with one myself, and spend a lot of time testing different silencer combos on it.


Give me a shout if you still need some help.


Allen

The string you made has cat whiskers and padded ends.It is raining today so no testing yet,waiting for a break between showers.
I will more than likely be ordering from you in a couple days. thanks

[LBR]

How the string is made makes as much (maybe more) difference than the material.  Dynaflight '97 is 100% Dyneema (SK75).  So is Fury (SK90).  I've been able to quieten tons of bows, including Black Widows, with Dynaflight strings...although for me blended materials (450+, 452X, BCY-X, X-99) have always been a tad quieter before tuning, silencers, etc.  I think the Vectran just naturally dampens vibration better.

The best "recipe" for me with Dynaflight has been 12 strands with loops padded to 18 (Flemish).  With BCY-X, 18-20 strands with the loops padded to 24 (Flemish).  8125, 14-16 strands with the loops padded to 20 (Flemish).  I've never found a "skinny" string to be inherently quieter.  Tinkered with them off and on for nearly 20 years on selfbows, longbows, and recurves.

Several variables to consider getting a bow quiet.  Nock fit is one that's often overlooked...a nock that snaps on hard is naturally going to make more noise.  Your release is another.  A good release is quieter, and might be harder to get a good clean release on a shorter bow.  Silencer placement can make a difference...you don't just slap them on in any old spot.  Normally one at the 1/4 point and one at the 1/3 point on the string is a good starting point, but for the best results you may have to do some tinkering.  I once had a bow where less than a 1" difference in silencer placement made a night and day difference.  I tie mine on around the string.  They won't move on their own, but can be moved up or down for fine tuning.  Brace height of course...sometimes a 1/2" can make a big difference.  Arrow weight...heavier arrows are quieter.  If you use "cat whiskers", don't leave them too long...too long and they will make their own slapping noise.

I start with a "naked" string...eliminate as many variables as possible.  Find the brace height that is most quiet (make sure your nocks fit properly, nock set is correct, arrow spine is correct, etc.)  There will be a "sweet spot".  Might not be a whisper, but you will find a spot that has the least noise and vibration with no silencers.  Then add silencers.  Move them up or down 1/2" at a time.  Might want to keep notes to keep from putting them in the same spots.  Some bows might not follow the "rules".  I had a fellow bring a bow to my shop one day, he just couldn't get it quiet.  We shot and tinkered and shot and tinkered...I was getting frustrated and came in the shop to take a break.  He stayed outside and kept shooting.  In a few minutes he came in saying "I FOUND IT!".  On a whim he'd moved both silencers to about 6" from each end...night and day difference.  Weren't supposed to work that well there, but they did.

There are rarely any "magic bullets".  Usually there's a solution to a problem, but it takes time and patience.

[Texoma]

Tried two different strings today zero difference.Put wool yarn silencers on BW string minor difference.Took brace height all the way to 9'' no difference.Put some weed eater string in an arrow made the arrow 12 gpp no difference.Took the quiver off my other bow an put on the BW big difference,good enough to hunt with.I noticed while changing strings out today that if you bump the ends of the limbs they vibrate and ring like a tuning fork which is exactly what it does after the shot, none of my other bows are like this 1 recurve 4 longbows.

Thanks to everyone for help and suggestions much appreciated.

[LBR]

The folks at BW may have some suggestions.