Author Topic: Is this normal on a new bow?  (Read 1208 times)

Offline Vintorez

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Is this normal on a new bow?
« on: February 10, 2020, 10:45:14 AM »
Hi all,

I bought a new ELB and received it last week. It's an all wood construction with 3 laminations - hickory, osage and ipe core, 75# @ 27".

This is my first wooden bow so I'm not sure if I should be concerned by the string follow it's already exhibiting. I've had it less than a week and only took it out shooting yesterday. Straight out of the box it had what I would estimate at 1" of string follow/set (apologies, I'm not sure of the terminology in this case). When I put it up against a door unstrung, belly towards the door, I could fit a finger in between the door and the grip.

All up I've put maybe 20 arrows through it, most at half or 3/4 draw. Usually I leave it unstrung, in its bow sock and resting on the floor of a room with a stable temperature. The longest it's been strung is 2 hours and it hasn't been exposed to any temperature extremes, although who knows what they did to it during shipping. Prior to shooting I did everything that the bowyer recommends - waxed it with a beeswax furniture polish the day before, braced it at the correct brace height and left it for about half an hour prior to shooting. Following that I gently warmed it up with part draws a few dozen times and then started shooting it, again mostly from just 1/2-3/4 draw. After shooting, it seems like the string follow has slightly (though noticeably) increased and hasn't gone back to its old shape a day later.

Is this normal? Am I freaking out over nothing? Being a wooden bow I expected this to happen over time, but not in less than a week of ownership when I've barely even touched it. I'm used to seeing photos of perfectly straight longbows when unstrung so it's a bit unnerving when it already has a noticeable curve.

Thanks for your help.



Offline KenH

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Re: Is this normal on a new bow?
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2020, 01:37:27 PM »
Perfectly straight longbows are new, un-shot longbows IMHO.  Yes you'll get some set right from the start.  Many bowyers deliberately build-in some reflex so that the set isn't quite so much in the beginning.    When you unstring the bow after shooting, spend a couple minutes bending the set limbs back towards straight. That will help.
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Offline Forwardhandle

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Re: Is this normal on a new bow?
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2020, 04:33:17 PM »
I can only speak to the wood bows I have made but usualy my bows take all the set during tiller & shoot in & never had a bow take more set beyound that at least in a few thousand arrows ,I would ask the bowyer if the bow was pre shot in, another thing that can cause additional set is to high of brace height above 7" & moist wood ,I'm sure there is others ,I never try to bend the bow back if there is set !
If you fear failure, you will never try ! But never except it!!

Offline Bowjunkie

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Re: Is this normal on a new bow?
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2020, 06:03:03 PM »
I agree with Forward Handle. A well made wooden bow by a good bowyer will be adequately 'shot in' before he let's it go. It should not, would not, take noticeable, additional set in the first week, or first few hundred shots by the new owner, unless it has soaked up moisture, been drawn considerably differently, or been drawn farther than what it was built and trained for... assuming it was properly built and trained. It should already have been drawn hundreds of times in increments during tillering, and then after it reaches full draw and been exercised there many times, should have been shot in 150-200 times, at least, during which any tiller changes and/or set is assessed and addressed... any set should be water under the bridge before it left his possession. Something along this line is the proper, responsible way to treat a bow, and receiver of it.

However, it COULD be that it was designed and constructed well enough, but was rushed a bit and he just didn't take the time to shoot it in properly. Not good, imo, and it would lead me to wonder what other shortcuts may have been taken, but my point is, that little bit of set may not necessarily mean it's going to get a lot worse or that it's going to fail.

Straight wooden bows, after being strung and shot for a period of time, and then unstrung, tend to follow the string, but then will spring back toward their previous shape. They may move back over a period of several hours. So don't be too quick to judge. Don't stand it on its bottom limb in the meantime. Lay it some place flat, on a table, shelf, or something with its limbs free to relax and move back.... if you want be critical and take such measurements.

A hickory/osage/ipe trilam shouldn't take much set ultimately, unless it's underbuilt for what you're doing with it. 75# @27" aye? How wide and long is it? How far are YOU drawing it?

Offline Flem

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Re: Is this normal on a new bow?
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2020, 06:35:51 PM »
Ditto on the set. Like Ritchie, I would never bend one backward and if you do, better be real gentle.

Offline bigbob2

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Re: Is this normal on a new bow?
« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2020, 12:12:21 AM »
it is my limited experience that once a bow develops any string follow. trying to bend the bow back is not a great idea, as the wood fibers have been elongated and trying to bend it back only works against those fibers., in essence making it weaker.

Offline Vintorez

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Re: Is this normal on a new bow?
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2020, 08:21:26 AM »

A hickory/osage/ipe trilam shouldn't take much set ultimately, unless it's underbuilt for what you're doing with it. 75# @27" aye? How wide and long is it? How far are YOU drawing it?

It's marked as 72.5 inches long and is 1.25 inches wide at the thickest part above the leather grip. My draw length is around 26" and thus far I haven't drawn it even that far, so I can guarantee I haven't overdrawn it. The top limb is longer than the bottom, which I believe is standard for an ELB? To my eye the bottom limb looks considerably straighter than the top, which makes sense considering it would be stiffer. So maybe just looking at the top limb exaggerates the curvature more?

In any case I think I'll put a few hundred arrows through it and see if that makes it worse. I still think I'm probably worrying about this too much, but I just want to make sure it's not user error and that I'm doing something that could break it as it was a considerable investment.

Offline Eric Krewson

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Re: Is this normal on a new bow?
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2020, 10:29:36 AM »
Bad advice, don't bend your bow backwards, if your bow has set you can't undo it.

Most trilams are glued up with reflex, apparently yours wasn't. No big deal and nothing to worry about, all my bows get some string follow except those made from that rare piece of mystical osage we run across every now and then.

In my opinion; bows with a little string follow shoot smoother than reflexed bows. 

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