Tuning a longbow?

[rinaldo]

I read in an article that someone was going to tune his longbow what the heck is there to tune?

[timbo]

I think it is a bit like tuning a digeridoo.

You just smack it against a tree a couple of times :D



I guess you can adjust the tiller, the poundage, and the nocking point.

Cheers Tim

[hutcho]

also the brace height and the rest (thickness of leather will change centreshot)

Then there is tuning your arras which is probably what most people associate with tuning longbows.

I have considered the smacking it into a tree method but want someone to show me how to finely change settings this way (any offers, even some of you compound shooters can have a go!!)

[ed]

rin - there are more to sticks and string than you might think. You can affect tiller by hand grip, draw hand style (split fingers and three under), brace height, even the type and position of the string silencers will affect how it shoots.
Most longbows are not cut past center, that means that arrow spine is much more critical and there is less room for range of spine from arrows. The more traditional bows are not cut in at all and so tuning arrows is very hard. This I feel is the main reason why longbow shooters can't group past certain ranges. Other reasons are bow balance, grip causing torque left/right and up/down, poor release (watch some buggers pluck the string!), some sort of ideal of "hunting form", and generally piss-farting around.
I know some longbowyers that are happy if their arrows weigh in within 40grains of each other. Makes little difference from a medium weight longbow at 20m but at 90m you would be better off throwing rocks. Yes I read the other thread. On the other hand some I know like at Adelaide Archery Club match their gear very well indeed and shoot a lot better because of it.
Howard Hill supposedly tuned his arrows to his bow by making a hundred or so, picking a bush at around 100m and shooting the lot of them at it. Any arrow that didn't hit the bush was not used for that bow. Those that went left were kept to be tried for a heavier bow and those that went right were kept to be tried with a lighter bow :)

Come on Rin, get yourself a longbow and show us all how to do it :)

[rinaldo]

ome on Rin, get yourself a longbow and show us all how to do it Smile
I got one last week a 35lb longbow and I am enjoying the challenge.

[ed]

great, now throw all carbon arrows away. or donate them to a friend and get yourself some wood shafts - quite a few, and then see how you go with getting them to group. This will teach you a lot about tuning a longbow, and one word of caution - do not cut them to the minimum length for your draw - this will stiffen them maybe past the spine you need. Work down to it, and stop when you have the right spine and don't pay any attention to if the arrows are one, or three inches longer than your draw.

[rinaldo]

Ed I appreciate your input though before I even think about tuning the bow I need to be able to group consistently, a problem some archers, whether Compound or Trad, have even after years of shooting. It sounds like you tune the arrows not the bow :shock: .

[adam]

Might be better tuning the bow and arrows to suit it first mate, you'll go to all the trouble of practising with a set up that will change once tuned.

Jmo

Adam

[rinaldo]

Might be better tuning the bow and arrows to suit it first mate, you'll go to all the trouble of practising with a set up that will change once tuned.


I think I understand what you are saying Adam but how can I tune the thing when my groups are not up to scratch yet, what comes first the chicken or the egg? :D

[GlennMac]

How are you going to group well with an out of tune bow/arrows ?

[rinaldo]

How are you going to group well with an out of tune bow/arrows ?

If I am spraying the arrows everywhere how do you tune it.

[GlennMac]

If your spraying the arrows every where something is wrong, you have to fix the problem. If you never try to fix it you might be spraying the arrows around for ever.

[adam]

I think the chicken comes first in this case Rin. You don't have to able to group arrows to tune a bow, though good form would help.

Things like watching your arrows fly, paper testing etc.

I don't go right into tuning my bows just a little bit.

Moving your nocking point 3 min can make a huge difference if you ask me. I usually change my brace height to feel(you'll feel, see and hear a difference when trying different brace heights.

Then you have Strings to look at for fine tuning a bow, Personally I always go for low stretch strings, I find with ff or dyna my arrows leave crisp from the string and there’s a lot less noise then dacron, make sure your bow is ff compatible first.

Then theres tuning arrows, I think this should also be the chicken and not the egg.

Help this helps a little

Adam

[adam]

Little things like nocks to tight on string, string to thick, wrong brace height, etc etc. You have to shoot your way through all these things if you know what I mean. But its a great process, One I am still enjoying.

Adam

[ed]

if you are spraying them everywhere then maybe you are better off with carbons or aluminiums for a bit. Until you can get a fair group. That way you can sort out the worst aspects of your shooting first, whether it be release, grip, peeking etc. I did this myself, and though I still don't shoot well I did get past the spraying them everywhere bit.
Then after that get into tuning the arrows so they group where you want them.
Where they group at the start is no big deal, just that they group is an indication that your shooting technique is improving. But the arrows have to be identical to do that. That is hard to do unless you have a matched set already at hand (in your case that means someone else tuned them to the bow) and even then a "matched set" may not be tuned to the bow for YOU. Even minor differences in form can make an arrow too strong or weak. I have seen people shoot well standing upright with a vertical bow and then next shoot having to cant the bow and bend over to get under a tree branch and the arrow is too stiff because the change in position has caused them to shorten their draw. And a shortened draw on a longbow or recurve will affect the spine of the arrow hugely IMO possibly more than on a compound.
One way to avoid this is to use a clicker if you want. I have seen people use them well and see no problem with them for training purposes. The above is easily done by choosing a point of aim and keeping to that until the arrows group.

Trad is fun because it is so challenging :)

[Warlocke]

ed wrote;

Trad is fun because it is so challenging :D

Sums it up well.

[pete w]

www.bowmaker.net has a good article on tuning that should be some help.