Hello,

I have a 70" HH style longbow with a dished grip that pulls 60# at my 29" draw lenght. I've always found the grip borderline confortable but now, having shot a recurve for a while, I'm thinking about modifying it.

Any pros and con about rasping the grip to a locator style ?

Any pictures of existing HH-ish longbows with a locator grip for inspiration ?

Thanks,

Chris

Chris,

I have a Howard Hill Tembo that was built in 1977. It had a dished grip and I changed it to a locator style with a rasp and some sand paper. I didn't change it much, but it's more like my other bows now. Mine is 57# @ 28" so I felt it wasn't too much weight in draw to take a little out of the handle. Of course every bow is different. I refinished the section I rasped and put a new leather grip on and it seems to be holding up fine.

There are several here  http://www.howardhillshooters.com/

for you to look at. Good luck!

I discussed changing one of the real deep straight grips with Craig.  He encouraged me to go ahead and do it.  I didn't because i had someone interested in the bow, but it didn't look like too daunting a wood project.

if you want to see a lot of Hills, with closeups of the grips, check out the Hill Showcase at

www.howardhillshooters.com

I think it's about five links down.

dick in seattle

I did this with a knight excaliber.  It came out ok though I shouldnt have taken so much off.  If I'd do it again I'd take just enough to get the start of a locator grip and build up the heel area with a strip or three of some thin leather and rasp that down instead of completely altering the grip.   I'm glad I did it and still own that bow.

Thanks for the info and links guys.

I have another question : should de vertical pressure axis (the pressure point on the bow hand) be in the center of the bow or off-center ? The pressure axis on my grip (right handed) is, when looking at the belly, off-center to the right.

Chris,

Chris:
Instead of altering the grip, why not just learn to grip it properly, it will make a difference.
If you shoot right handed just rotate your left hand to the left a little until the large knuckle of the thumb is almost in line with the center line of the limb. Take the pressure off the life line of the hand. This does several things, it straightens the wrist making it more in line with the forearm. Moves the forearm out of the way of the bow string. and makes the grip comfortable.
Bob

Aromakr,
That is how i have been shooting my Hills, i have a straight grip on both my hands are small. But with that hold it feels fine.

You can use epoxy putty to build up the grip to more of a recurve style.and cover it up with leather after the fit is fine.

Thanks for the tip Bob. I'll try it before going away at my bow with a rasp.

Chris

I think that Craig will change the grip for like $10 or something real cheap. You may want to shoot him an e-mail.

BobCo,

Excuse my ignorance but who is Craig ? Is he the owner of Howard Hill Archery ?

Chris,

Craig Ekin is the owner of HH Archery, and its bowyer.  He's a really nice, helpful guy.

As to the grips, I have preferred the locator, but just recently learned to handle the straight grips, and feel that I might even grow to prefer them.  The key is not getting one that is too deep for your grip.  I took a digital micrometer to a number of them and found that I really like about 1.75" of grip depth and could handle up to about 1.9".  More than that was just plain awkward for me and my small hand.

Here is a link to a comparison of grip depth on two bows:

http://www.howardhillshooters.com/hhbows/dickcheetahandwesley/dickcheetahwesley.html


Links usually behave here, but if it doesn't, it's a page on the hhshooters site reached as follows:

www.hhshooters.com   then Howard Hill Bows Showcase  then  Cheetah and Clear Glass Wesley - Dick Wightman

Very good pix of a normal straight grip and an extra deep one.

Dick in Seattle

Yes Chris as Dick has mentioned, he is the Bowyer at HH Archery. Here is his e-mail address:

hhill@montana.com

I inquired one time not long ago about having him change a straight grip to a locator. Below is my e-mail correspondance with him.

Hi Craig,
Could you tell me the price (including shipping) to reshape a straight handle on a 70"  Big Five  to a Locator Grip?
Thanks,
Bob
********************************************
Hi Bob:
The cost would be $10 as long as we don't have to refinish the bow.....and normally we don't with a handle change. The only additional cost would be if the handle was laced....then it would be $10 more for that. The shipping would be $18.
So I would expect it to cost $28 without lacing or $38 with.

       Craig