Silencers and Tuning

[mrpenguin]

I am in a bit of a quagmire here... I was tuning my Robertson Vision Falcon IV TD Recurve (fine tuning really) and decided to try out my (gently used) qivuit silencers on the TS+ flemish string.  The bow shoots 400 Beman MFX carbons and is labeled 48#, but pulls closer to 50# at the shop.  So, I removed the rubber cir-cut silencers (little rubber strands tied onto the string) and put the qivuit on (through the bundles of the flemish sting).  With my braceheight the same, nock height the same, everything nominal, the bow just wouldn't consistently group for me anymore!  So, I went back to playing with bh, nh, etc... and couldn't get a good tune... figures.  I took them (qivuit) out today and tried to tie the cir-cut silencers back on.  One blew off after my second arrow, so I took the other one off... Of course, I was seeing the arrows go more where I was looking before I lost the cir-cut.  My questions are how much a silencer effects tuning and if such a high-tech synthetic string needs a more high-tech synthetic silencer (limbsavers?)?  Is it better NOT to separate the strands/bundles of stiff TS+ materials to install silencers like qivuit that require a larger gap??  I'm kinda at a loss here as to how to fix the problem and get that nice tune back that I had with less noise!

Thanks,
Erik

[Richie Nell]

Everyone knows more than me on this topic but...

silencers can change the speed of your string due to more or less friction.  This causes the  arrows to spine differently. Maybe this is changing your arrow flight and grouping.

[pebowbender]

My guess is that changing the silencers affected the arrow spine. Some silencers will rob more energy from the limbs than others. I'm not familiar with either if the two you are using. (One of them sounds like "cat whiskers". I have always been able to hear the strands hit the string after the shot and the string leaches, for me, wear out too quickly and do near nothing to quiet the bow.) But in my own experience, anything you change has the potential to affect the arrow spine. I have tried and tested a lot of different silencers ie:wooly whispers, cat whiskers(tied loose and tied tight and trimmed to a ball shape), string leaches, beaver balls, Blackwidows spider legs,etc etc etc..... In my experiments, 32 strands(16 wraps with ends cut) of crocheting yarn($1.99 at Walmart) quieted the bow the most without robbing alot of speed. Have been using from the same roll/skeen for several years now with no problems. Tie them in loose, between the bundles, 1/4 of the distance from where the string leaves the limb(recurve or longbow) and move up and down in 1/4" increments to find the sweet spot. My bows always like them within 1/4" of where I started. Sorry so long winded. Hope this helps.

[MSwickard]

I just came across an article the other day when I was in Barnes&Noble looking at the mags.  Can't remember what rag it was in but it was either the latest Traditional Bowhunter or Primitive Archer.  Anyway, this guy did a pretty in depth test using a Decimel meter and CHronograph and the effects different type of string silencer had.  From memory, the two best in dampening sound were Cat Whiskers and beaver fur.  The C-Whiskers droped the dB down from 65.9 to 60.2 and the Beaver fur was around 60.9.  However, the cat whisker did affect arrow speed more than the beaver fur.  Can't remember the fps drop on these, I think the cat whiskers drop was 10 fps and the b-fur was only 0-2 fps. One thing I do remember form the article is that he used an entire strip for each cat whisker so the weight added to the string was significantly more than the B-fur.  It was like 27 grains for each c-whisker strip verse 11 grains for the beaver fur. It would have be interesting to weigh the cat whiskers so they were the same as the b-fur and see what the difference would have been.

Mike
Mike

[ishoot4thrills]

String silencers can have a tremendous effect on your arrow spine. As a matter of fact, many archers, including Byron Ferguson, recommend using string silencers to fine tune their bows when the arrow is showing signs of being too weak. The silencers act in such a way that your arrow will act stiffer after you install silencers onto the string. I know first hand-I've been there myself.

[mrpenguin]

Thanks for the advice everyone!  I purchased some more of the cat whiskers today and installed them... its dark now so I'll have to wait until morning to go shoot them.  Really, I'm just looking for the tune, and if I lose a few fps, that's fine.  I would rather have my arrow hit the mark at 195 than miss at 203.  What I may also try, if the whiskers don't do the trick, is install the qivuit again and reduce the tip weight to 100 grs and see if that takes care of the problem...

After I do some testing tomorrow, I will chime back in and let you all know how it turned out!

[katman]

Anything you add to the string is like adding it to the arrow so heavier silencers will stiffen the arrow dynamically. I will tune a new string for my bow/arrow combo by placing the cat whiskers on longer than on the old string and trim the whiskers until the bare shafts tune. Another way to micro tune your setup.

[Richie Nell]

mrpenguin...Also the farther down the string you put the silencers the stiffer the arrow.  So after you get the size, shape, weight, etc. you can fine tune the arrow by begining low and sliding the silencers up to weaken the arrow as needed.

[mrpenguin]

As it turns out, I went with the cat whiskers.  I found that I needed to use a lesser amount than is recommended to get the tune I was looking for.  I may try trimming a little just to fine tune, but I will need to get some bare shafts for that first (I fletched all my arrows after tuning them).  Thanks to everyone who posted!

[Shakes.602]

How do Smaller "Wooly Whispers" act on the string?? I am seriously considering replacing my "CatWhiskers" for a Set, and considered making them kind of short to begin with. ANY and ALL Comments Welcome!!      

[WESTBROOK]

Richie nailed it! Moving them toward the tips will weaken the arrow, the silencer is traveleing a shorter distance creating less resistance-robbing less energy.

Also, any time you split the string to put in a silencer a certain amount of time/shooting is required to let the string settle back into its twist.

Eric