Adjusting bow strength

Merlin83b

Member
I know that the bolts on the riser can be turned to adjust the draw strength of the bow. Is doing this as simple as it sounds? Turn the upper and lower bolts the same amount to keep the limbs matched and that's all there is to it?
 

avalon

New member
Pretty much, I've drawn a tiny mark on each bolt, so I can easily see how much I've moved them. Check your tiller pre and post adjust... and make sure you tighten everything back up once you've finished!!
 

Max

New member
Yep! Basically that's it. Undo any locking screws, screw the limb bolts in for more weight and out for less. Observe the manufacturers recommended minimum settings for the limb bolts though (PSE recommend a minimum number or turns, Hoyt give you a diagram of where the mushroom heads ought not to be, etc, etc.

Then comes the slightly more tricky bit. Check the tiller settings, check and test the knocking point, check the stability of your sight picture as you draw up - does it want to dip or climb? - if so back to tiller adjustment again).

If you have not done it before, try to talk to someone who has at your club.
 

Merlin83b

Member
Max said:
Yep! Basically that's it. Undo any locking screws, screw the limb bolts in for more weight and out for less. Observe the manufacturers recommended minimum settings for the limb bolts though (PSE recommend a minimum number or turns, Hoyt give you a diagram of where the mushroom heads ought not to be, etc, etc.
Samick tell you which way to turn, but no mention on limits or anything like that. I should add that this is for a Mizar, in case anyone has any experience with them!

Max said:
Then comes the slightly more tricky bit. Check the tiller settings, check and test the knocking point, check the stability of your sight picture as you draw up - does it want to dip or climb? - if so back to tiller adjustment again).
This is right at the beginner level, where these sort of things haven't really been dealt with in any case - the bow is pretty much as it arrived, and Samick say that's with everything set half way to provide a decent middle ground

Max said:
If you have not done it before, try to talk to someone who has at your club.
I may well end up doing that, but I was hoping to do it pretty shortly and am not going to be at the club until next weekend.
 

joetapley

New member
Depends on the bow.
With some bows adjustment of limb angle to riser (weight) is stand-alone. With others the this weight adjustment may be integrated wth the limb (string ) alignment adjustment.

So with with my Samick there are two weight adjustment systems, a course adjustment combined with limb-string alignment and a fine tuning/tiller weight adjustment system.

With Hoyt bows there is a single weight adjustment system - the limb bolt with limb alignment being done with washers.

With Mizar I think limb alignment done with bolt but guessing somewhat. Anyways check if winding limbs in or out affects limb alignment.
 
Last edited:

Merlin83b

Member
My guess is that Samick have a similar system in use on all their bows - my Agulla and the Mizar in question do, and it sounds similar to your Masters, Joe.
 

Little Miss Purple

The American
Fonz Awardee
Ironman
American Shoot
If you have a friendly & helpful retailer they will probably guide you to do this if asked. I took my bow to Aardvark to have the poundage changed and Lez talked me through the process :thumbsup:
 

joetapley

New member
My guess is that Samick have a similar system in use on all their bows
Looking at Samick's web site the Mizar looks like it does use use the main bolt for limb alignment. Trick (assuming the limbs are already aligned) is to put alignment marks on the bolt base aligned with the riser body as and where appropriate. Then if winding the main bolt up/down just bring the marks back into alignment. This will bring the bow back within tweak of perfect alignment very quickly.
 

Max

New member
Merlin83b said:
I may well end up doing that, but I was hoping to do it pretty shortly and am not going to be at the club until next weekend.
Ok Merlin - my advice to you would be to leave the riser alone and shoot it as it is initially. The weight adjustment will only give you a small amount of latitude anyway (I am making an assumption here that you might want to take some of the weight out of the bow?). Your riser and limb combination might only give you a positive weight adjustment anyway (like my PSE which supposedly comes with the limb bolts set at the minimum weight setting and my WinEX limbs which are weight rated at the lowest adjustment setting also. At best your combination might get only a couple of pounds either way.

It is unlikely that the limb pocket alignment will be a long way out - and that is something that can be checked in the fullness of time, or if it is a long way out, it will be something you should be able to see straight away.

If you were hoping to make a significant difference to the feel of the bow (say if you were a novice and wanted to start with a much ligher draw weight) I doubt that the riser limb adjustment alone will give you what you want. Sorry if I am making to many wrong assumptions here.
 

morphymick

The American
Supporter
American Shoot
AIUK Saviour
joetapley said:
Looking at Samick's web site the Mizar looks like it does use use the main bolt for limb alignment. Trick (assuming the limbs are already aligned) is to put alignment marks on the bolt base aligned with the riser body as and where appropriate. Then if winding the main bolt up/down just bring the marks back into alignment. This will bring the bow back within tweak of perfect alignment very quickly.
Not quite that simple, joe.

The Mizar main tiller/weight bolts (allen bolts) have to be removed for adjustment of the eccentric cam for limb alignment. Replacing the allen bolts can cause the cam to move slightly and misalign the limbs. It shouldn't, but it does.

That said, when it's right it's rock solid and a nice light riser, great, for making a 64" bow when your ACC's are too stiff for your bigger ones, or lugging around a field course.

Mick
 

Merlin83b

Member
I had a bit more of a look last night. They're already set to the minimum allowed, so it's possible new limbs will need to be obtained.

This isn't for me, Max. I'm getting along fine with my Agulla. My other half is finding the bow very hard to draw and the theory we've developed is that it's simply too heavy for her. We'll probably have a chat about it down at the club when someone more experienced than I can watch and see what's happening.
 

Max

New member
Merlin83b said:
This isn't for me, Max. I'm getting along fine with my Agulla. My other half is finding the bow very hard to draw and the theory we've developed is that it's simply too heavy for her. We'll probably have a chat about it down at the club when someone more experienced than I can watch and see what's happening.
Ah - OK Merlin, now I understand the problem. Typically, a lady will need a bow in the 32 - 36lb draw weight range to be comfortable. My guess is that your Agulla is probably 38 - 40lb? Often we macho males also make the same mistake and buy a heavier bow than we are really comfortable with - there is nothing more likely to scrw up any chance of developing good form and good groups, than an overweight bow. Depending on her size, she might also be better off with a slightly shorter limb - maybe a 66"?
 

Merlin83b

Member
I have 36lb limbs to make a 68" bow and am very happy with it. I'm not at all bothered by having a lighter bow than anyone else - this was the weight recommended by the instructor on our beginners course so I went for it.

My girlfriend (Kes, let's at least name her :)) has a Mizar (23" riser) and medium length limbs to give a 66" bow. These, when used in conjunction with a 23" riser, are placarded as 30lbs. This was also as recommended by our course instructor. Kes is very much on the small side and isn't very strong and by her own admission is finding the bow very heavy compared to those we used on the beginners course. The heaviest she used then was a 26lb draw and we suspect that's somewhere around the upper limit of her strength at the moment.

I'm happy to take advice but I think the way to progress will be to get some limbs at around 26lb and put the 30lb limbs away to be grown into.
 

Flandyman

New member
Merlin83b said:
I'm happy to take advice but I think the way to progress will be to get some limbs at around 26lb and put the 30lb limbs away to be grown into.
I would say go with that - as previously stated nothing messes up your form more than trying to shoot a bow thats too heavy - time and practice will bring her to the heavier limbs if she finds she needs them later - until then get the good form in hand and enjoy !
 
Top