The reason I ask is, string grooves are typically very shallow, say 2mm, if you then add a "string silencer pad" then IMO that pretty much fills in the groove anyway thus negating the effect of the string groove.
So are string grooves really necessary?
Thanks
Andy
After my thinking I would say yes. If your limb alignment and shooting technique, release were 150 % perfect probably not. Me certainly not and if that bowstring slams home a tiny bit off center it will drop into that grove.
Would be interesting to see a high speed film of it. I have no scientific proof to say this though.
I don't think grooves are necessary. The string groove is AFAIK a 20th century invention, and they've been making recurves for something like 5000 years. Some, but not all, of the wood-horn-sinew Scythian bows from 2500-300 years ago had short string grooves, but they also had nearly 270 degree semi-circular recurves which you can't get easily with modern materials. Turkish crab- bows don't have string grooves. Some ancient bows with foot long or longer contact (string-follow) siyahs had string pads added to the limbs but not gouged into them.
It depends. Some need them. Some don't. I've made recurves where the outer limbs where the string touches is practically round. They seem to like em.
I've never needed a 'string silencer pad' so can't speak to that.
Yes
On Fiberglass bows
What Bue said.
If you add a pad over the string groove the string will still fall into the groove.