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1.) bluecat - 02/25/2015
There wasn't a recurve forum but I figured this compound forum would work just fine as some of the information can apply for both.

I've been waiting for years for a bow maker to make a recurve bow for me. He made one for my wife and daughter and I was the last in line. I finally called him up a month or so ago and asked him if he was still planning on making me one. He told me that he wasn't planning on making them anymore, at least for awhile. So I quickly set out to find something I could get started with.

This is a Hoyt Excel Riser (21") with TradTech limbs at 35 pounds. Sorry the picture doesn't include the whole bow. I originally ordered 50 pound limbs and installed them. The people on AT were telling me I was way overbowed and that I needed to start low and get my form right before I attempt anything like fifty. So I returned the limbs and got these 35 pound limbs. The nice thing about the ILF system (International Limb Fitting) is that I can order some different limbs and install in a few seconds.

2.) bluecat - 02/25/2015
After putting the string on my next goal is to cut and build 6 arrows and leave 3 unfletched so I can do some bareshaft tuning to find my nockpoint and possibly the tiller settings. I'm going to include some text I lifted from the tradtalk forum. It is really well written and for the first time, I think I understand the relationship between nock point and tiller settings. They are all trying to do the same thing which is make up for the fact that your arrow is not leaving your bow in the center of your bow. The reason why I'm including it is that this information is pertinent to compound bows as well.


[url]http://tradtalk.com/forums/showpost.php?p=140110&postcount=1[/url]

I've been getting a lot of emails asking me to post more here, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts about tiller. When people ask about tiller they are usually told to set it somewhere and leave it, or that it simply doesn't matter. For some people that may be the best, but for people looking for the last measure from their bow, a working knowledge of tiller is just as important as knowing how to adjust brace height or plunger tension. I've read several books on tuning and not one of them gave an adequate explaination, so here you go:

Tiller is probably the least understood and most confusing part of tuning, but it is actually very smple. The tiller adjustment simply controls the balance between the force that the top and bottom limbs exert on the arrow at release. That's it. The measured tiller that a bow needs to shoot correctly depends on whatever mismatch exists in the limbs, the design of the riser, and the input from the shooter. Let's take those one at a time.

Most ILF limbs are designed at zero tiller. One exception to that is Border limbs and there may be others. Zero tiller means that an attempt was made to match the top and bottom. In reality that can vary a bit. That is why limbs are always marked "top" and "bottom". It's important that you keep the limbs in the same position that the bow is tuned in, unless you know for sure that they are EXACTLY matched. Being slightly mismatched is not a problem, but just requires that understanding. In fact I have deliberatly put the bottom limb on top in a few cases where I needed the stronger or weaker limb in that position.

The riser design is in the hands of the engineer who designs it, so I won't say too much about that. I will say that any well designed riser should require minimal tiller. Any bow or riser that demands high tiller to shoot right is not properly engineered or perhaps constructed poorly.

Shooter input is where a knowledge of tiller can pay dividends. The tiller that a bow needs depends on the grip pressure you exert, your finger placement on the string, and the distribution of pressure between your fingers. For this reason, any tiller adjustment is best done by people who have fairly repeatable form. If you are changing these inputs on every shot, then adjusting tiller will be an exercise in frustration. The fundamental building block of any tuning attempt is the ability to shoot decent bareshaft groups. OK, now to the crux of the bisquit.

The most fundamental adjustment of tiller is actually made by adjusting the nock point. Since most trad bows do not have adjustable tiller, the only way to achieve balance is to adjust where you contact the string. On a well designed bow, you should be able to reach the balance point fairly close to having the arrow level. The farther out of tiller the bow is, the higher your nocking point may need to be. Your nocking point may also have to be higher if you shoot 3 under with a bow designed for split finger. Raising the nocking point is fine to a degree, but if extreme nocking points are needed, then you will set up an imbalance in the bow that will create vibration and noise. This is why so many people think shooting 3 under is noisy. There is NO truth to that. Shooting a bow that is out of tiller or imbalanced by excessively high nock points IS noisy. My idea of excessive nock height on my bows is anything over 3/8". All of my personal bows run 3/16" to 1/4" and no more. Any adjustment past that is made by using the tiller bolts, or by swapping the limbs around, or both.

Here's how the process works:

First I set up my bow with a fairly low nock point, say 1/8" to 1/4" and shoot a group of bare shafts and fletched arrows into a bale. If the bare shafts group just slightly low, then I start creeping the nock point down. If the BS group is high, then creep the nock point up. If the group spacing is over 5", let's say, then I would leave the nock point alone and adjust the tiller slightly. ADJUSTING THE TILLER TO A MORE NEGATIVE STATE WILL RAISE THE BARESHFT GROUP, going more positive will lower it. Since you are adjusting the difference between the limbs, you can either adjust one bolt or both (in opposite directions). Here are some rules of the road:

1. Positive tiller means that there is more preload on the bottom limb, so that tiller measurement will be smaller. Generally split fingers requires 1/16 to 1/8 of positive tiller, meaning that the top measurement will be 1/16 to 1/8 larger. Generally 3 under requires close to zero. The term positive tiller comes from "top limb positive" meaning that the top measurement is larger. Sorry, but it makes about as much sense as "back" and "belly".

2. Tightening a tiller bolt will increase preload, loosening will decrease it. To get more positive tiller, you would tighten the bottom bolt and loosen the top bolt, or you could do one or the other alone for a smaller adjustment. One trick that I use is to put the strongest limb on bottom for positive tiller, or on top for negative tiller. You can find the strong limb by adjusting the tiller to zero and looking at the space under each limb. The limb with the biggest space is the strong one.

3. Always draw the bow a few times or shoot a couple shots to settle the adjustment before measuring.

4. Since you may have changed the draw weight slightly, the last step is to check the draw weight and readjust if needed. Always turn the tiller bolts in the same direction and EXACTLY the same amount to keep the tiller adjustment good during the weight adjustment.

5. Make sure you have properly spined arrows before adjusting tiller. Really stiff arrows can bounce off the shelf or rest and give you some screwy results that are not tiller related.

Make very small adjustments, like maybe 5 minutes on the hand of a clock. Some bows will be much more sensitive than others. You will learn through experience how far to adjust your bow. My go-to bow is a 58" DAS shooting 295gr arrows. The short length and light arrow weight make it very sensitive. I can change the point of impact of my bareshafts by 6" with a change of 3/16" of tiller (turning the bolts from about 12:00 to 4:00). Longer bows will be less sensitive. Make small adjustments and shoot a test group after each one. Remember that you are looking at where the bareshafts impact relative to the fletched arrows. When you get close, lock the bolts and use the nock point for that last tweak. Like I said, I like to end up with about 3/16" to 1/4" of nockpoint rise.

Remember that the goal is to get all the settings as close to center as possible. In other words, 1/2" of tiller compensated by a 3/4" high nock point is not good even if the bareshafts look reasonable. What you have done is compensated one big error with another big error. Try to work it down so that a small tiller setting is offset or complimented by a small nock point setting. That way your bow is not fighting itself and it will be quieter and vibration free. The better designed your riser is, the closer you can get to zero on everything.

OR If none of that makes sense, just set it at zero and leave it

Here's a little bedtime tiller story. Many of you know I got my index finger caught in a machine over a year ago and my shooting has been a challenge ever since. I've pretty much overcome the handicapped finger with a somewhat onorthodox string pickup. I shoot 3 under, but I can't curl my index finger anymore so I get a good hook with my middle and ring finger, and let my index finger sort of stick out as an anchor point. The result is that it shifts the string pressure down on the string farther than a normal 3 under. For that reason I actually shoot a slightly negative tiller on my bows (about -1mm). Nothing at all wrong with negative tiller, it's just unusual for most people to need it. It could also be used to some advantage by stringwalkers.

David
3.) Swamp Fox - 02/25/2015
I've heard the same thing about bow weight.

Keep us posted on your progress. Last time I shot a non-compound bow was at summer camp and it SUCKED! LOL.
4.) bluecat - 02/25/2015
Will do, it's a new world but I'm looking forward to the process. It's amazing how fast even a bow with 35# limbs can project the arrow.
5.) Swamp Fox - 02/25/2015
KyHunter was taking up the recurve a few years back. OKY might know something about them, too, but I could have that wrong.

I know close to nothing about it, though, LOL. I have my thumb in too many pies as it is. :tap:


:beer:
6.) Swamp Fox - 02/25/2015
BillyB prolly knows recurves...

He's been shooting a bow since before there were rocks to throw...:wink
7.) Swamp Fox - 02/25/2015
Dagnabbit! I ran him off! :p
8.) Wild Bob - 02/25/2015
Congrats on the new bow and new endeavor! :tu:

Also enjoyed the good information, thanks for sharing; I learned something new. :tu:

Do you have another bedtime story...perhaps something a little more racy with sex in it??? :clap: :wink
9.) bluecat - 02/25/2015


If you can believe it, I filtered through a lot of racy stuff.
10.) bluecat - 02/25/2015
What I took out of the article is one should start at 0 tiller and then adjust nock point starting at level or slightly above. If the nock point starts getting beyond a reasonable amount, then adjust tiller and start the nock point adjustments again at level or slightly above. Both are trying to achieve the same thing -- get the arrow out of the bow level vertically. Horizontal adjustment should come through rest adjustments.

Of course, the proper spine is paramount or you are just chasing your tail. All of this can be applied to a compound. However with a compound you also can have cam syncronization and timing issues that can induce some porpoising.

I also learned that grip placement and grip tension can affect your adjustments so shot repeatabilty is a must -- and someone can't tune the bow for you (factory, knowledgable person etc.). You have to shoot your own bow. With recurve, your finger placement can also affect this (2 under vs 3 under).
11.) Swamp Fox - 02/25/2015
[QUOTE=bluecat;30156]

If you can believe it, I filtered through a lot of racy stuff.[/QUOTE]



We're glad you were able to fight your way back...LOL...

I have a recurring nightmare where you and the other five guys discover internet porn and then I have no one to talk to. :wink
12.) bluecat - 02/25/2015
I just kept saying to myself, "there are 5 guys that are depending on me. I have to get back. Click Click Click. I have to get back. Click Click Click.".
13.) Swamp Fox - 02/25/2015
LOL...
14.) Deerminator - 02/26/2015
Blue cat, shoot the bow, a lot. Get the feel of where full draw is, anchor point, and the nice clean release of the fingers. Determine when its pretty well sighted in .
Then do a walk back tune.
10yd ( or 20 yd pin ), shoot at 10yds then using that same 10yd ( or 20yd ), pin. Shoot at 15, then 20, then 25 and 30 if there's room on the target.
Look at the curve pattern the arrows make. This shows you what needs to be moved and where.
the riser ( left/right ) or the knock )up/down).

If ya notice a lot of tail kicking but point of impact is pretty good, more tension on the plunger spring.( we used to call them Burger buttons for some reason)

It will also take a little time to break in your glove. That can change the point of impact more than ya think.
It takes a little while to really get the recurve tuned and then fine tuned . But it's worth it:tu:
15.) Deerminator - 02/26/2015
Hence the mechanical release and drop away rest.
16.) bluecat - 02/26/2015
[QUOTE=Deerminator;30165]Blue cat, shoot the bow, a lot. Get the feel of where full draw is, anchor point, and the nice clean release of the fingers. Determine when its pretty well sighted in .
Then do a walk back tune.
10yd ( or 20 yd pin ), shoot at 10yds then using that same 10yd ( or 20yd ), pin. Shoot at 15, then 20, then 25 and 30 if there's room on the target.
Look at the curve pattern the arrows make. This shows you what needs to be moved and where.
the riser ( left/right ) or the knock )up/down).

If ya notice a lot of tail kicking but point of impact is pretty good, more tension on the plunger spring.( we used to call them Burger buttons for some reason)

It will also take a little time to break in your glove. That can change the point of impact more than ya think.
It takes a little while to really get the recurve tuned and then fine tuned . But it's worth it:tu:[/QUOTE]

Thanks Deerminator. Yeah that makes sense. I need to learn to shoot this thing before I get all technical up in here...

There won't be any sights, stabilizer and I'm using an NAP flipper rest right now. Don't know if you can adjust flipper tension with those.
17.) Deerminator - 02/26/2015
Flipper no but that plunger you should be able to.

A little trick for shooting without sights. When you get consistent at 10yds put a line on the inside of the riser facing you at the appropriate spot. A Pen line on tape works good. Then when you get consistent at 20yds put another line on the piece of tape. this will give you reference points for judging distance. kind of like sight pins but on the inside of the riser facing you. Line up the line with the bullseye and point the arrow at it and let her fly. This also gives you reference points for shooting in between distances. You can get real good at putting those arrows right where ya want them.
18.) Wild Bob - 02/26/2015
I wish my quiver looked like that...:duh: course, I probably wouldn't be shooting worth a flip then.
19.) Swamp Fox - 02/26/2015
Prolly never leave the house... :-)
20.) bluecat - 02/26/2015
+3 for showing restraint on the obvious shaft references.
21.) Swamp Fox - 02/26/2015
What do you think this is, AT?

We're on a higher plane around here.


:fire:
22.) bluecat - 02/26/2015
I go there for technical information, I come here for the beer and wings. :wink :co:
23.) Swamp Fox - 02/26/2015
[QUOTE=bluecat;30186]I go there for technical information...[/QUOTE]


"Watch 'im, Abe...I seen 'im do some things..." :wink:groan::wink



24.) bluecat - 02/26/2015
"To Hell with them fellas. Buzzards gotta eat."
25.) Swamp Fox - 02/26/2015
That's what I say every time I log out over there...:-)
26.) bluecat - 02/26/2015
LOL! I log in over there about once every 6 months, just for giggles.


When I log in here in the morning I say "Bring out your dead!"
27.) Swamp Fox - 02/26/2015
:-)


My password here is "I don't want to go on the cart"


:wink
28.) ARCHERXP - 02/27/2015
I shoot longbow. Maddogarchery is a good bowyer
29.) Wild Bob - 02/27/2015
[QUOTE=bluecat;30186]I go there for technical information, I come here for the beer and wings. :wink :co:[/QUOTE]

Well put. :tu:
30.) bluecat - 03/18/2015
I've been shooting the recurve a bit and thought I would put up a video I saw that covers anchor point.

When I first started shooting I noticed there are several types of anchor points people with recurves use. Some use low anchor points (like the Olympic archers) where the string touches their nose and they anchor under the chin. This is for bows with sights.

For traditional shooters, you want to anchor at the corner of your mouth with string on side of your nose.

This guy really seems to know his stuff. He also reconfirms the fact that starting with a 35lb bow is the way to start.

31.) bluecat - 03/18/2015
Here's his daughter shooting a lifesaver out of the air.





By the way, Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games) shoots with a low anchor point and her bow has no sights. She was trained by an Olympic archer which would help explain why. She is not really using the correct form in the pure traditional sense.
32.) Deerminator - 03/18/2015
And a VERY light poundage bow that downs aircraft and blows up lightning. I want some of her arrows.
She shoots with a glove as well.
33.) bluecat - 03/18/2015
Deerminator do you use the side of your mouth as anchor? I've seen some videos where they actually put a finger on the canine tooth as it doesn't move.
34.) Deerminator - 03/18/2015
I never have but I know guys that use the kisser button and a few that use the fletching. I have heard of the fingernail on the fang technique as well.
It's anything that brings you to the same anchor point.
Consistent poundage is determined buy the draw on recurves.