What's the skinny on a twisted limb?

[fazhu]

Hello all.  How much does a slight twist affect arrow flight?  Would you buy a used bow with a slight twist if the price was right?  I have already done some research here and elsewhere about straightening a twisted limb and being a guitarmaker I am very familiar with bending wood so the straightening isn't that much of an issue.  I'm just wondering about the nitty gritty of shooting a bow with a slightly twisted limb.  Thanks for your time.

[SlowBowke]

I DONT shoot bows with twisted limbs but some do.

My 2 cents is that it will make it worse.

Ive twisted back more than my share though, one just recently with a little heat to start.

All recurves though. Just FYI.

God Bless

[d. ward]

about 99% of bows that are twisted got twisted because folks used the step thru stringing technique(no bow stringer).About 99% of those can be straightend by just twisting the limb back straight.Pretty easy really to straighten most twisted limbs.
As for shooting them after the straightening ? I've straightend several hundred bows at least and it really has no affect on the bows performance after being straightend.There almost good as new.
However shooting them with a twisted limb ? does and will affect the bows performance.Shooting a bow with a twisted limb can cause the sting to come off sometimes and sometimes in the worse cases it can delaminate your limb bd

[BWD]

Just straightened a twisted lower limb, on an old red wing hunter, by grasping the limb and string, at the tip, and twisting in the opposite direction, with the bow strung, no heat. Had to repeat the process several times, over the course of a week or so, but it finally took a set. Now it tracks in the string groove...again. No ill effects, so far. lol

I've always associated the twist with Chubby.  

[LoneWolf73]

Shooting a slightly twisted limb is not an issue but if the string tracks way off center(badly twisted) there is a chance when shooting that the bow can unstring itself.

[fazhu]

So for those of you that have straightened a limb would you say that more often than not the repair "sticks"?

the ones i have straightened stayed straight so far, i used a hair drier, and got it just warm enough , not real hot.

[d. ward]

I would say 99% of the bows I've straightend are still in service today.I do not use any heat at all I straighten all bows at room temp.with no problemos so far so good bd

[fazhu]

Thanks guys.  I have a good feeling about the bow in question (****) and I went ahead and placed a bid.  I feel pretty confident that i'll be able to straighten the (extremely slight) twist assuming I win ( I really want the bow so my high bid should get it for me).  Thanks again.