does tiller matter in recurve bows?

[Rick Moss]

my tall tines is a little loud...maybe not really loud, but it has that thummmmmm, noise. I checked my BH and my tiller. my tiller is off by about 1/4 of an inch.... the top is 7 5/8 and the bottom is 7 3/8...how do I adjust this in a recurve bow? can you add or subtract twists in the top or bottom...or will this even change anything other than BH? thanks. I know after shooting compound, that they sound different...but shouldn't this bow be quite a bit quieter than my compound...because I don't think it is that much, if any quieter...?

[Don Stokes]

Rick, I suspect that's just what your bowyer intended. It's normal to have a little positive tiller to compensate for a slightly shorter lower limb, if I understand it correctly. I'm no bowyer.

[Don Stokes]

And yes, it should be considerably quieter than your compound.

Yes tiller always matters

[macbow]

Tiller is not adjustable without removing part of the bow.
Probable not your noise problem.

Recurves are a little more difficult to silence than longbows.

Your best choice would be to contact Tall Tines and see what they use.
Do you have a quiver on the bow? Bow quivers can be the source of noise or help deaden noise.

Do you shoot split fingers or 3 under?  3 under makes it more difficult to make it quiet.

It's a popular bow so there should be a solution.

[Stumpkiller]

I'm still trying to work out how you would add twists to just the upper or  lower portion of the bowstring?!?        


Depending on what is causing your noise you can raise brace height, add puffs to the string, use heavier arrows or employ other sound dampening tricks and techniques.  Recurves should just make a soft "thub" when released.

We had a recurve that was about 3/8 inch positive. I put an arrow rest on the bow 3/8 inch up from the shelf and raised the nocking point on the string to match. This fixed its noise and vibration problems, plus the bow shot a much cleaner flying arrow.

[BigJim]

Tiller is not nearly as important in a laminated bow as some would have you think. 1/8" as you described is right in the wheel house.

The only time you would notice any ill effects from tiller is if it were WAY out of wack such as at least 3/8" or more.

bigjim

I should have pointed out that the 3/8" bow was a Darton from the 70s. My wife is still mad at me for giving it to a kid, that has yet go hunting with it.  She used it for years and never missed a deer with it.

[Rick Moss]

Charlie, someone told me that twisting the top loop would affect it differently than twisting the bottom...I didn't believe it or understand how...but he said that it would change the tiller. the only thing I think would that it would change by either twisting the top vs the bottom would be the nock point. that was my cousing and he has been shooting a long time...? dave told me tiller did not matter near as much as nock position, and that I believe...
dave also gave me some brand new otter skin silencers and I put felt between the string and limbs...I have my BH at 7 5/8, I guess I will just play with it. and if I don't figure it out...I can always shoot my other bows.
thanks for all of your help.

[azhunter]

Are you shooting at least 9 gr per pound of arrow weight, have you moved your string silencers up and down to the string to find the best placement in terms of noise, are your nocks too tight, arrow quiver as mentioned above can sometimes be part of the problem or can also make it shoot quieter.

[Rick Moss]

no quiver. moved the string silencers up and down. got the arrows from dave, he said they are plenty heavy enough...but either of us know the grain weight. moved the BH around. nocks are actually a little looser than I like, but they work....who knows. I will figure it out, or I will hang it on the wall and it will be an $1180 wall decoration.

[PICKNGRIN]

You might try a flemish twist b50 string.  Some of my bows just are not as quiet with the newer low stretch string materials.

[bigbadjon]

I'll chime in on the string twist. On a flemish twist string it is possible for the serving to keep the top half of the string from twisting at the same rate as the bottom making the bottom half a mush tighter twist. Even though the string is the same length it will pull the top limb further back and put the tiller out of whack. This happened to me with my ACS and gave me a fit trying to resolve it.

The difference in which loop one twists would only show up if the serving area was prevented from being twisted somehow and one end of the string kept on the bow.  If the string is twisted from the bottom loop without any pinching off at the serving, the entire string twists. I tried this by holding the serving in my hand against the bow, it does show a a difference when the bow is braced. I dont know if it will stay that way after shooting some arrows.
I have  helped with a loud Howatt, a B50 flemish string did the trick. I made a string and left the strand ends dangle a bit. The bow only needed wool yarn puffs with the new string.

[bigbadjon]

That is correct pavan. I mentioned it because of the earlier posts and it would baffle someone who did not know to look for it.

I could see how that would be a temptation to use, if one wanted to alter the knocking point and increase the brace at the same time. I am not so sure that things would stay in place.  I have gone as far as removing the serving, getting the twists into the string to get the brace I wanted and then put on new serving. With tight serving, there is resistance to twist changes under the serving. While it may make no difference over all, I have noticed that a string can be a little quieter after making sure that the twisting is the same all the way through the serving.

[macbow]

I don't know about this uneven twisting thing. Beyond me.
Now I'd think a string that has excessive twists would be louder.

[Hud]

Your tiller is fine. If you think it is too noisey, try adjusting the string within the manufacturer's recommended hight. Twist or untwist the string from either end will accomplish the same thing. Approx., 5 twist = 1/4". Use a heavier string; add a small silencer to the string, top and bottom the same distance from the nock, use heavier arrows.  

[Dogboy900]

I have a bow that at a brace height of anything less than 7 1/2 makes a plain obnoxious twang! I avoided shooting it for ages because of the noise. Twist it up around 8 and it not only is a lot quieter but more forgiving too!