PLEASE help me quiet my bow

[mountain lion]

i have a blackwidow recurve, and i really want to try and quiet it down. but, i dont want to have to buy a skinny string cause there is nothing wrong with the one that comes on the bow. i made some silencers out of yarn and it doesnt really work that good, i guess, i mean the bow sounds loud to me but i dont know what it sounds like if someone else was to shoot the bow    . the spiders kinda work but i can hear the legs slapping and it drives me crazy, same with the catwiskers. is there anything i can do to get around this? i have played with my brace height and i shoot around a 510 grain arrow. am i just gonna have to deal with it or what? could someone please give me some advice.  

[Alexander Traditional]

I just added some pre-cut limb string groove material to mine and it made a huge difference

[Rick Butler]

What finally worked for me on my widows with the stock string was 2 sets of yarn silencers set at 9" and 14" from the string loops.  I then wrapped the ends of the strings  where the string contacts the limbs and down about 6-7".  Play with the brace height too.

[el greco]

First of all what kind of string material are you using?I am sorry but I don't know if widows are ff.Anyway B50 would help reduce the noice.Also I think the skinnier the string the louder the noice.Then if you shoot a light arrow that could also be the cause of the noise.
Other than that I  would go with the wool yarn silencers.You can even make them yourself and install them it is super easy ,just do a little bit of research in utube.BE AWARE though to use WOOL and not a synthetic material or a wool like.

[MRD]

I know you don't want to, but a skinny string can make a HUGE difference.....

[Bjorn]

"there is nothing wrong with the one that comes on the bow". Frankly, I have never been satisfied with the string that comes with any bow-today I tell the bowyer to send me a t-shirt instead.
If you want to quiet a bow the string is a great place to start like others have stated above-after all the string is what is contributing to the noise. Silencers, arrow weight and brace height are other variables. And on a recurve bow hush to calm the string slap. Keep an open mind and don't assume bowyers snow strings-they don't string makers know strings.

[Stump73]

2x what Rick Butler said.

[JamesKerr]

Get Terry to send you some bow hush. Black Widows can be a tid bit louder than other bows but, if  they are tuned correctly and then have bow hush put on them then they will be quiet as a mouse.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I gotta tell ya.... the string quality does make a big difference as well as a lower strand count. there's a reason why folks get higher performance out of skinny strings, and that's because there is less mass moving forward, and also less mass weight for your limbs to stop. so it is quieter too.    


 the B-50 dacron string is quieter, but it stretches so much you are constantly messing with your brace.

The 450+ has a nice quiet tone to it and still is a somewhat non stretch string.

I'd spend the 20 bucks on an SBD string, put the cat whiskers back on it, and get the brace up high as you need to go.  kirk

[LBR]

Sounds like Rick Butler has figured out how to fix the "factory" string.

My experience with BW recurves is a padded loop string makes a world of difference--12 strands of Dynaflight '97 with the loops padded to 18 with dacron has worked very well.

Of course there are many other variables to consider--silencer type, silencer placement, nock fit, brace height, your release, how well the arrow matches the bow, etc. etc. etc.

The new BW bows I've delt with can be made very quiet with a little tinkering.

A note on cat whisker silencers...if you hear the legs slapping, they are too long--a common mistake.

Chad

[LBR]

there's a reason why folks get higher performance out of skinny strings,  

I haven't seen it myself.  Very little difference in string weight, especially after the serving is built up.  A few strands of string material just doesn't weigh that much.

Ken Beck did a challenge a year or two ago--offered up a brand new custom BW bow to anyone who could show a very small increase in performance with a string on a BW (2 or 3 fps?)...but the "catch" was if you failed, you had to buy a bow at regular retail.  As best I could find out, nobody ever accepted the challenge.  There were some discussions about it here--it was pretty interesting.

Anyhow...narrowing down the source of the noise (is it from the string?  the arrow?  or?) is the first step, then work on eliminating it.  Try to figure out if it's limb slap (wrap the end of the string in yarn, use a padded loop, etc.), string twang (adjust silencer placement, heavier arrow), the arrow nock too tight or slapping the rest as it passes the riser...with a little tinkering, you'll get it.

Chad

[Kentucky Jeff]

I don't use skinny strings to eek out a few extra FPS.  I use them because they make every bow I've tried them on quiet(er) than without them

Having said that I talked at length to BW about tuning my BW bows and the best advice I got was to start with the brace height 5/8" higher than the minimum spec in their catalog.  That seems to be the most common sweet spot on their bows.

Also, if you are a new guy and its a new bow be sure to re-check your brace height.  On a new bow that string's gonna stretch a little and sometimes overnight!  Write it down!  Check it every time.

[TxAg]

I've only tried skinny strings a handful of times. Maybe I'm in the minority, but they always made my bow louder. I like the strings Dan Toelke sends with his bows....whips, 12 strand ff.

Good luck with your bow. Keep us updated on the progress.

[Terry Green]

Here's a 5 page thread that will cover all the answers you need.....Its also about a widow, and the thread ran just last week.


 CLICK HERE