arrows a touch stiff, do I want a higher brace height?

[shaneroe]

I always get confused on this.  My arrows are a touch stiff, not bad though.  Is it better to try and go up or down with my brace height?  Thanks.

[reddogge]

I would think a lower height would give you a longer power stroke.

[Earthdog]

Reddogge is right.
You could also use a softer or more giving strike plate if that's possible.

[bshunter]

actually you need to raise your brace height, it is complicated and seems to go against logic, but that is what the Easton guide says. Give it 4 twists and see what happens.

[Old York]

Easton has a very good discussion of it in their
tuning guide. You could note your current brace height,
make a substantial change to it in either direction, and
see for yourself what your results are. Being close in spine
but a tad stiff, you should see some cause & effect
when changing your brace height.

[Smallwood]

if you want to weaken your shafts, then you need to raise your brace height.
or add more point weight to weaken the shaft.

[ranger 3]

Smallwood is right on the money

[Shooty1]

Raise it.

[Earthdog]

Are you guys absolutely sure Easton was describing the power stroke of a stringbow,and not a compound ?.
Because to my understanding their not both the same,and a stringbow loses power as the string drops,while the compound increases power due to the cam action.

[ronp]

In my Black Widow tuning DVD it says to increase your brace height if the shaft is a little stiff (with a Black Widow recurve).  Conversly, lower the brace height if the shaft is a little weak.  Like Old York said, try it both ways and see what your results are.

[xtrema312]

Raise it.  It will add draw weight and put more initial thrust into the arrow.  It is not how long it pushes, but how hard.  Seems to work for me.

[BenBow]

Actually it's the angle of the arrow to the arrow plate. Raising the brace height is like moving the arrow plate in which requires a stiffer arrow and has a much greater effect than the small amount of power stroke or weight difference. Check Stu's calculator to see how much difference 1/16" makes in effective bow weight.

[Old York]

Earthdog, if you  read  Easton's tuning guide you will find the answer to your recurve vs. compound conundrum.

[Orion]

Benbow's got it.

[Dale in Pa]

Benbow's right. Viper does a great job of explaining it in his book, also has illustrations that help explain it.

[Bjorn]

Lowering the brace increases string time and adds a very small amount of power and guess what? Works for me anyway.

[Ragnarok Forge]

Wow,  there seems to be a lot of confusion here on what is the proper step for this process.  

If you want to make a stiff arrow act weaker with your brace height you want to lower the brace height.  I have repeatedly proven this with multiple arrow set ups and tuning processes.

Lowering the brace height increases the length of string travel. This increases the time of energy release impulse on the power stroke.  That means more energy is imparted to the arrow making it weaker.  I am not sure why Easton is saying otherwise, but for longbows they are dead wrong.

[Encino Man]

Originally posted by Ragnarok Forge:
Wow,  there seems to be a lot of confusion here on what is the proper step for this process.  

If you want to make a stiff arrow act weaker with your brace height you want to lower the brace height.  I have repeatedly proven this with multiple arrow set ups and tuning processes.

Lowering the brace height increases the length of string travel. This increases the time of energy release impulse on the power stroke.  That means more energy is imparted to the arrow making it weaker.  I am not sure why Easton is saying otherwise, but for longbows they are dead wrong.

Ditto. That's what I've always been taught.

[Shooty1]

The great schism continues.

When you lower brace height, you change the geometry of the shot in such a way that it makes it more difficult for the arrow to get around the riser, thus making it act stiffer. Yes, the lower bh arrow has more energy imparted to it, but not before the arrow actually clears the riser. The taller bh gets the arrow to arc around the riser, though the power stroke is cut short.  

There are experts and amateurs on both sides of this, and both sides observe what they expect.

[Ragnarok Forge]

Hmmm, interesting observation.  I would have to see two arrows fired in slow motion at differing brace heights to see the difference. Not saying your wrong. 1/2 to 3/4 inch of extra brace height is not going to change how the arrow flexes around the riser very much.  

All the energy released into an arrow is released prior to it clearing the riser.  The energy stroke starts at string release and stops at nock release from the string.  All of which occur before the arrow clears the riser.  Perhaps I am not understanding what you meant.