I recently acquired a beautiful self yew English longbow, 72" unstrung, 68" strung at fistmele, draws 64# @ 28". The maker described the bow as having "a couple inches of stringfollow/just the right amount"...I got it and it seemed good to go, shot it several sessions, always unstrung and stored properly. The maker only lives 3 hours away so climate is not an issue. The bow seems to have nice cast and shoots quietly. Anyway, after shooting it for a week I decided to measure the stringfollow myself, drawing a straight line from nock to nock and then measuring from that line to the belly of the grip- 3.5-3.75"... I've heard 3" is about max desired. I need some expert advice.
***UPDATE!: I have been in communication with the maker of the bow and he has enlightened me on a few things regarding the stave and bow which have laid my concerns to rest. Scroll to the 2nd page to see what he had to say. This is the type of person I always hope I do business with. "Luna" is here to stay and I will get on with shooting her :knothead: :knothead:
On the floor, measured 3.5" from floor to back of grip, overnight after shooting:
(http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s631/nineworlds9/Wes%20Martin%20yew%20ELB/photo2-1.jpg)
(http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s631/nineworlds9/Wes%20Martin%20yew%20ELB/photo.jpg)
Generally 2" to 3" is considered acceptable and makes a smoother shooting bow. I'd say 3.5" to 3.75" is a bit excessive...but if the bow shoots well and you enjoy shooting it then I wouldn't worry about it.
Depending on why the bow has that much set(overstressed while building, too wet while building) you might be able to reduce the set some with heat and a form.
Yes the bow shoots very well in my opinion. It is one of the quietest bows I've ever shot actually. The maker shipped it with a fastflight string. From my research fastflight seems to be ok on selfbows. This wouldn't affect stringfollow would it? I could replace the string with Dacron but its so stretchy... Would the form/heat just involve strapping the bow with some backset tension and then heating?
I measured it again and it's right at 3.5" belly of grip to line formed by the nock grooves.
Lay the bow on its back and measure the distance between the tips and the table top. Where is most of the set, near handle or mid limb?
If you like the way it shoots I wouldn't do anything but shoot it. If the bowyer used FF string it should be OK. I have 2 osage bows that Dano made for me and both have FF string and neither have tip overlays. No problems with them.
Gotcha. I laid it on its back like you said and measured from the floor surface to the nock groove...I got 4.5" on the top nock and 4" on the bottom nock. And yes, the set seems to really get going about mid limb..lying on its back the handle and riser area seem relatively flat. If you take the 4/4.5" figures I got measuring tip-floor while on its back and subtract the handle thickness you get a net of approx. 3 1/8" on the top limb and 2 5/8" on the bottom limb?? Perhaps the set being mostly mid limb is a good thing? I will post some pics.
also, was reading in the TBB vol. 3 that perhaps it might be a good idea to secure the string to the top nock and use the top limb as the fulcrum end when doing step through since its more flexible if tillered standard...might go easier on the future set.
Haha, it IS really easy to string.
If you are unhappy you should return it. I think the builder misrepresented the amount of set. 4" to 4.5 " is too much IMO. Will it stop there? Who knows.
So Pat you're saying the measurement I got laying it on it's back and measuring floor to tips (4"/4.5") is a more accurate figure for the set than the measurement of 3.5" from floor to back of grip when resting on the tips, belly down?
I'm not unhappy with it per se, as I said, it shoots nicely..accurate and nice cast, VERY quiet, though mild handshock...as you said I should prolly just shoot it and enjoy it. This inquiry relates heavily to the fact that I'm in the middle of reading TTBB vol. 1-3 right now, haha.
I scaled the bow, my scale isn't super accurate, but it does pull somewhere right around 62-65# and the maker rated it 64 @28 so that part is true. The set only changes about 1/4" between rest and stringing shooting, hence my original post of 3.5"-3.75" measured at the handle...3.5" being the 'overnight figure' and 3.75" being the just after shooting/unstringing figure.
Unfortunately, I must confess this was an e#$y purchase, so return is not an option. It was only the second bow I've ever bought there. Caveat emptor, haha...but the price and feedback seemed to indicate it was the real thing, as was when I learned who the maker was, won't name him here..nice guy, but..
Anyway, it certainly wasn't prohibitively expensive, so I will just bite the bullet and enjoy. I'm just trying to increase my knowledge and understanding of what makes a good bow more than anything.
Leave it. Enjoy your bow. Fixing collapsed belly wood cells is almost impossible.
I gave a friend an osage bow a few years ago. He discussed some "changes" with me. I told him not to do it. That every decision I made had a reason. The next time I asked him how he was enjoying the bow. He sheepishly smiled and looked away. That was a nice shooting bow too.
Jawge
Cool beans Jawge. In all honesty it is a beautiful bow. Lots of character..the limbs twist opposite ways and it has one nice big knot and a few smaller ones...all have been drilled and filled in a way that seems appropriate. The yew glows and looks to have somewhere around 30-40 rings/inch. I'd say you're right. Shoot the $%^tch, hehe, and as long as I'm hitting what I wanna hit don't complain. :)
Its FINE and looks to be a very nice bow!
Enjoy it!
:knothead: :thumbsup:
Thanks Vanilla, she is pretty, set or not. Originally I was bragging on her in PowWow. The moisture thing sounds plausible. I wouldn't mind if she gained a few pounds (LoL) as she dries. I sent an inquiry to the maker, maybe he'll humor me with some more info about the build. She does seem to have a nice tiller. I think I'm gonna call her 'Luna' for her crescent shape :)
I would think that natural deflex is the reason.
QuoteOriginally posted by Osagetree:
I would think that natural deflex is the reason.
Osage, someone on Primitive Archer mentioned this possibility. That didn't occur to me, as while I'm not a novice archer I'm a novice to bowyering topics. I'm devouring TBB Vol.1-3 with gusto. If the theory of natural deflex in the stave is correct, the bow would have at most 0.5" of actual set. This would be consistent with the measurements I've gotten...the 3.5" figure after resting and the max 3.75" I noted immediately after shooting/unstringing. I hope the maker gets back to me and sheds some light on these possibilities. In the meantime "Luna" is going to get more range time :)
Nineworld, both measurements should be the same with the possible exception the physical weight of the bow brought it down a bit the way you measures. You are measuring to see how much deflex is in the limbs and both ways do that. The most amount of set is the actual measurement no matter how you measure it.
Well, I'm pleased to say that the maker of the bow has responded to my inquiry and I feel has laid my concerns to rest. I'm going to get on with just enjoying "Luna" and not always being so danged scientific about everything. I often find myself being one of those fellas who gets excited/happy about a thing only to later start picking it apart/stripping away characteristics to see if it stands up to criticism. Guess that's a product of going to art school maybe? LOL.
Here's the scoop from the maker himself:
"Personally I'd not worry much about the set. It did take what I consider more set than usual but I still like the way it shoots so didn't try to correct it. some of it is natural deflex too..it started out with 1.5" or so of deflex...yew is so hard for me to get every piece is special so I normally don't like to do a lot of heating and reflexing on it. I can take it out with heat but the draw weight will go up drastically and it will need to be retillered . I would advise against that since there would not be a drastic performance gain. I just built one this week that's only 67"s long and pulls about 70#s....haven't scaled it yet... and it has zero set so far but I've only shot it 30-40 times. It doesn't shoot any better than your bow though.
I read your post on primitive archer. I don't want you to think it was just a sale. I take pride in my bows and if I didn't communicate enough I'm sorry. I just didn't really have anything more I knew to say..all I really know to say is it's made of yew, horn nocks ELB tiller and the specs..I bought the stave so don't have any history on it. I was happy with the sale price too so that's not an issue. If you're unhappy with it I'd be happy to buy it back for what you paid...I'll pay your shipping too.
"I wanted to revise what I said about the natural deflex...I said 1.5 inches I notice you're measuring and calling it 3.75 inches. From your pic and what I remember about the stave not much of that is set really...or crushing of the belly fibers...a lot of that is natural which really does make a big difference if you have handled a bow with with that much actual set it wouldn't have as much early string tension as that bow. so by your measurement you can say 3"s of that is natural. One thing also to get a spot on accurate measurement of "set" run a string from the middle of the nock to the middle of the other nock and measure the distance the string lies from the belly. That thing has bulbous horn nocks so they're making it sit off the floor quite a bit more than a bow with self nocks. I'm not really trying to influence your opinion of the bow or defend it I guess you'd say.... it just sounds like you're wanting to know if it's gonna perform on par with other ELBs. I know how stuff like that can be..you enjoy the bow but every time you unstring it you keep staring at it again I'd be happy to buy it back if it bothers you."
Cool beans! He and I have talked and all is well. "Luna" is going to get some serious use over the next year getting ready for Fall 2013!
Unless Jim glued in 1.5" of set I don't know what he means by natural reflex in a laminated bow.
My cast test - take the bow out to a field and shoot it up in the air as to shoot the arrow out as far as it will go. With those specs you should get just over 185yrds with a 28" 11/32 cedar arrow using a 125grain field point.
I wanna try that. Only place I now of nearby where I live where I would have space like that to shoot is either one of the WMA's or this one public nature park. Will have to try going on a weekday when there's no one there, LoL and then pace it out. I imagine you'd want to launch the arrow at about 45 degrees, no?
First you wanna make sure that its legal. You dont wanna make a bad name for archery, bowhunting, or yourself flinging an arrow somewhere its prohibited.
Then aim at ~45degrees and let it rip. mark your spot you shot from, find the arrow, pace back to mark.
certainly wouldn't want to do anything illegal, I know in the WMA it shouldn't be a problem, i'm licensed and it will be small game season. that's prolly where I will go. I will just shoot the arrow down this one logging road I know of that you can see hundreds of yards down. I'll shoot a blunt tipped arrow.
Shoot several and use the average. There are variables such as head wind, form , etc.
Let us know how it goes.
When I stump shoot in my WMA I carry my tags and if asked,,, coyotes are always in season in Ohio... it may be the same with Boars in Florida?
Or maybe you could say invasive python hunting since your in Florida?
Hahaha pythons! I'll def go with that one ;)