off the shelf improvement question

[Sweetwater]

Greetings!

I have an old Ben Person Centurion that my wife shoots. It currently has a very small stick on rest that she really dislikes. She began shooting off the shelf but it is very narrow and slopes down from the center to the outside edge...so, she has to cant quite a bit to not drop her arrow. Neither the rest nor the shelf are satisfactory at this point.

I considered building the shelf up on the outside edge with shoe-goo and then recovering it with a bear hair rest. Any thoughts on this? Any recommendations that might work better? I don't want to hurt bow but I want her to continue enjoying it at the same time.

[kat]

I have used about a 1/8" wide strip of tapered leather on the shelf. If you taper it with the thick end toward the outside of the shelf, it will help to keep the arrow on the shelf. You can also use a wooden match, or whatever you want to make the tapered strip. Cover the strip with the rest material. It also gives you a narrow 'raised' spot to rest the arrow on. I like to position it over the deepest part of the grip. Hope this helps.

[Sweetwater]

Thanks Kat, I like this simple solution! I've got some remnant leather that might just do the trick. Might be easier than shoe-goo to clean up later.

[McDave]

Some bows that came with elevated rests already installed really don't shoot very well off the shelf, because of the way they were tillered.  Some do shoot okay off the shelf, so you just have to play with it.  I would guess that if the shelf slopes downward, the bow was probably designed to be shot off the elevated rest.  If the elevated rest is not too much higher than the shelf, it might help if you build up the shelf to the same height as the elevated rest.  You might be able to do this with multiple pieces of leather glued together with Barge or something, tapered as suggested above to offset the downward slope of the shelf.  Or, if the elevated rest is quite a bit higher than he shelf, by carving a block of wood to create a new shelf close to where the old elevated rest is.

[Sweetwater]

Great perspective McDave! The riser is not very high above the shelf and is probably as old as the bow. I think I can easily build up to its height. I see an experiment in my future.

[Bvas]

What about a feather rest?  I’m sure it could be made or trimmed to level out the shelf.
I think it is TRAP  that makes them.

[Don Stokes]

What McDave said. I prefer to build up the shelf on those bows not designed to shoot off the shelf. I alter my bows to achieve the least amount of rest I can tolerate, and I put a matchstick behind the sight window pad to put the contact point directly above the deepest point on the inside of the handle of a recurve. My arrow rests farther out on the shelf, but the sight window contact point determines the "hinge point" for the arrow, and putting it over the inside of the handle reduces the opportunity for torque.

[Sweetwater]

You guys have given me some great advice. I might try the build up over the next week with some scrap leather and barge cement. Thanks!

[Zradix]

Somewhere...for the life of me I can't find it....I saw someone do a tutorial on how to build up a shelf with thin pieces of leather saturated with super glue.
After building it up it could be sanded and finished like wood.

[Zradix]

Ah HA!  Found it!
I would think this technique may have possibilities for you...albeit using the technique in a different way.

https://www.tradgang.com/tgsmf/index.php?topic=127183.25

[Stinger]

I thought I would offer an alternative that I have had success with on a number of older bows.  That is the TRAP feather rest.  They sit tight on the shelf and are cushioned enough to almost give the feel of shooting off a hair rest on the shelf, yet just high enough to offer the advantages of an elevated rest.  TRAP builds them such that the feathers to the outside are just slightly higher than those inward by the riser, which allows the arrow to stay on the rest.  This would certainly be easier than gluing things to the riser.

[McDave]

I like the way an arrow shoots off a feather rest.  They just seem a little delicate to me.  I wanted to try one, so I put it on a bow I normally loan out to other people.  People who don't shoot a lot tend to drape a finger over the end of the arrow until they get ready to draw it.  Sometimes they have to be told to take their finger off the arrow as they are drawing it.  The pressure of the finger holding the arrow down sort of squashed the feather rest.  I managed to get it straightened out and injected a little super glue in between the rows to hold them in the proper place.  I think I shoot delicately enough to where I could put one on my own bow without damaging it, but I’m not sure it's worth the trouble.

Have you had any problems like this, Stinger, or do they seem to hold up pretty well for you?

[Stinger]

Hmm, had not thought of that issue. I had to think about that a little. I do sometimes hold the arrow like that while in the stand but don't recall any issues like that. I guess I don't mash it down quite as hard. Mine have worn down some over time just from the arrows sliding over it but never had them squashed down.

[Sweetwater]

I think the feather rest sounds easier than building and sanding and gluing. This is a target only bow and sees very little use (can't legally carry it into the woods at 28#). Might buy the TRAP feather rest and that a go. No limit of great ideas here!

Another thought that McDave brought too mind: is the Ben Pearson Centurion meant to be shot off shelf or must it be raised? Who knows these vintage bows well enough to say?

[Bvas]

I took a quick look at some old Pearson catalogs.  Centurian appears 1973-76'.  All years it is pictured with a wire rest and plunger.

[Macatawa]

What McDave said. I prefer to build up the shelf on those bows not designed to shoot off the shelf. I alter my bows to achieve the least amount of rest I can tolerate, and I put a matchstick behind the sight window pad to put the contact point directly above the deepest point on the inside of the handle of a recurve. My arrow rests farther out on the shelf, but the sight window contact point determines the "hinge point" for the arrow, and putting it over the inside of the handle reduces the opportunity for torque.

Exactly....this works well   

[Sweetwater]

Well, I tried the simplest fix first: I cut a bear hair rest to shape and placed a length of square leather boot lace along the underside of the outermost edge- this gave me approximately 1/8" or so of lip on my rest's outer edge. I then placed it all on the shelf and installed a leather strike plate as well. I adjusted the nock appropriately and took Missus Sweetwater to the range...

...She approached the target at 20 yards and loosed her first arrow into the upper edge of the bullseye. We had a nice afternoon practicing and she is satisfied with the results (which means I am too!). I am not sure how this bow was designed to be set up, but the pics mentioned would indicate it should be shot higher than my set up described above (the rest I removed was 1/2" above shelf). However, this does not seem to be affecting her shooting at this time. The only problem I have now is that she wants a second bow. 

[Roy from Pa]

The only problem I have now is that she wants a second bow.

Hey Joe, how many bows you got?

LOL

[Sweetwater]

Well Roy, I have three including her's. My old compound that got me hooked (hasn't seen daylight in years), my old Bear Hunter I got from a TradGang member, and the Centurion that started this thread...probably need more, right?   

[Roy from Pa]

Oh heck ya Joe, ya need a bunch more dude:)