[American Flatbow] What makes a Flat bow stable and forgiving?

BorderBows

New member
We all have our own ideas as to what makes a bow stable, what makes it forgiving. How would you put it into words?
 

djthompson

New member
how about...

shoots consistently across different weather conditions, retains power and strength.

A non perfect release does not result in disaster!

Dave
 

BorderBows

New member
i dont see carbon or glass making much of a difference in temp/humidity, especially once its under varnish and all sealed in, so that doesnt have much of a impact, but all flatbows have wood cores, and all are around the same thickness, so contain the same amount of timber so are prone to the same climatic conditions... dont see much difference in terms of one bow to the next to be able to say, that one is more stable than the next.

All flatbows are stable in terms of the limb design. The idea of adding stability is not one that is needed in a flatbow. I'll try to explain in terms of what happens to a recurve and why.
When reversing with a caravan, the caravan is prone to veering off to one direction. That is because your pushing the caravan, rather than pulling it.
If you were to pull the caravan it would follow for weeks and months without problem. As long as the limb is infront of the string then that is all good, the bow pulls the string along.
Now take a odd situation. Now instead of pushing the caravan, pull it backwards, but pull it from the tow ball, Backwards. You are in effect pushing the caravan back wards, in that the caravan will want to spin round.
this happens with a recurve, in that while the tip is infront of the resistance, and its being pulled backwards, you get the same situation.
Now in a perfect world, you would be able to push a trailer backwards for ever, as long as everything was in a perfect line, and in short, this is NOT possible with a bow as a release (archers paradox) is off to one side then a recurve needs stability to keep its self straight. A flat bow doesnt beacuse it pulls the string, as long as it follows the continous curve principal.

If you kept up with that mind game of a situation then all flatbows will try to compensate for a bad loose.

The amount of relfex/deflex in a bow is also a complex one, as it has very little to do with the untrung shape. If the bow has a grip infront of the limbs (when strung)then the bow will settle in to the grip when being shoot, and if the bow has a grip behind the line of the limbs, then the bow will have a tendancy to rotate in the hand, keeping the torque generated from a imperfect loose going for longer...
 

Haywain

New member
Stable Bow?

Balanced in the hand, doesn't stray to one side when shot.
Smooth to draw and shoot.
Forgiving of form.
Can shoot an arrow well enough even if not quite perfect in spine / weight.
 

steve58

New member
Not sure about stable, got a bit lost with all those caravans to be honest! Forgiving? Tolerant of a bad loose, a range of arrow spine, definitely. But also the exact draw length not being critical, not suddenly dropping off in cast if you don't bring it back to exactly the right spot.
 

BorderBows

New member
Not sure about stable, got a bit lost with all those caravans to be honest! Forgiving? Tolerant of a bad loose, a range of arrow spine, definitely. But also the exact draw length not being critical, not suddenly dropping off in cast if you don't bring it back to exactly the right spot.
OK. an abreviation is that a recurve limb is pushed so needs stability, and a flatbow pulls the string along so doesnt need any technical stability.
i would have thought that the longer the bow the smoother the bow, so draw length would be less critical. Longer bow, mainly being the longer working limb. The only thing that we could think of that would effect this would be stack/DFC.
We are not sure if any bow can be tollerant of a range of arrow spines, acceleration over 20 odd inches is just that and the harmonics that happen in arrow spine are critical to that tune? Though i suppose the closer to center the more range of tune you get, but again stack will change this harmony if you pull 1/2" more on a bow that pulls 2lb/" vs one that stacks at 3lbs/" on that last " gives you a bigger difference in draw.

The reflex/deflex still apply. the further the grip is infront of the line of the limbs then the more stable the bow will be...
 
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