Brace Height

dvd8n

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Ok, my adventures in tuning continue.

To recap, I observed that my arrows were a little weak.

In addition to this, I was aware that my arrows were over-long and my limb bolts were almost all the way out, so I decided to shorten my arrows to stiffen them, and if I over-cooked it then I could up my poundage to compensate.

Ok, long story short, I ended up with arrows 1" shorter, bow weight up 2lb, good bare-shaft, arrows shooting straight down the middle at all distances, and a better cast to the bow. I thought that I'd won a watch.

However, I had a bit of noise from the bow. I'd describe it as a click; someone else described it as 'like something mechanical'. No problem, I thought - I'll tweak the brace height. The thing is, I had to go right up to 9" to get rid of the click. I was already at 8.5" which (I believe) is about an inch higher than Sid's recommendations for Hex 6. It just seems way to high to me and way above Sid's recommendations.

So, do I stick with 9"? Do I make a longer string and see if there is another, lower sweet spot than 8" (which is the lowest that I can get with my current string)? Do I live with the click? Or is there some way that I can tune for a lower brace height?
 

dvd8n

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I did test all the way from 8" to 9" and only 9" was OK. If you think it's worth it I can try and find a longer string to test; I may have one in my box of bits but suspect that I will have to make one :(
 

Timid Toad

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Ok.
No way should you be shooting Hex6 at 9". Well outside recommendations and warranty. My medium limbs on a 25" riser wanted the lowest of all my brace heights - 7 1/8 - 1/4"
What is your bow length, limb length arrow length and spine, pounds on the fingers?
My guess is they were showing weak because you have contact. Definitely if that is the case, wrong spine.
 

geoffretired

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I needed two cables for my compound when I wanted to lower poundage after injury. (Longer cables lower draw weight) Rather than make two new cables, I made two loops of bow string about 1" across. Loop the string loop through the new loop, just like we do to make a long elastic band from several short elastic bands. With the new loops, I tied the two ends of bowstring as there was no room to serve. They are still on my bow and showing no signs of damage... that is a lot of tension they are supporting!
In your case, one loop would be enough. You will need a new nocking point( no need to remove the old one) but that's not as time consuming as a new string. Also, when you fit the new loop to the string, you can judge how it all looks close to the limb tips and recurve section. If it shows what BH is quiet, you can make a new string knowing it will work.
 

geoffretired

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I needed two cables for my compound when I wanted to lower poundage after injury. (Longer cables lower draw weight) Rather than make two new cables, I made two loops of bow string about 1" across. Loop the string loop through the new loop, just like we do to make a long elastic band from several short elastic bands. With the new loops, I tied the two ends of bowstring as there was no room to serve. They are still on my bow and showing no signs of damage... that is a lot of tension they are supporting!
In your case, one loop would be enough. You will need a new nocking point( no need to remove the old one) but that's not as time consuming as a new string. Also, when you fit the new loop to the string, you can judge how it all looks close to the limb tips and recurve section. If it shows what BH is quiet, you can make a new string knowing it will work.
 

dvd8n

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I needed two cables for my compound when I wanted to lower poundage after injury. (Longer cables lower draw weight) Rather than make two new cables, I made two loops of bow string about 1" across. Loop the string loop through the new loop, just like we do to make a long elastic band from several short elastic bands. With the new loops, I tied the two ends of bowstring as there was no room to serve. They are still on my bow and showing no signs of damage... that is a lot of tension they are supporting!
In your case, one loop would be enough. You will need a new nocking point( no need to remove the old one) but that's not as time consuming as a new string. Also, when you fit the new loop to the string, you can judge how it all looks close to the limb tips and recurve section. If it shows what BH is quiet, you can make a new string knowing it will work.
Well I made a loop like you said but I decided that I wasn't brave enough to shoot it :scared:

But anyway it let me judge how long a new string I needed; I made one and went up to the archery course (in the terrible weather) and ended up with a new brace height of 7.75", which seems a lot more reasonable and the limb shape looks about right too.

I had not realised before that the bow would sound right at more than one brace height.
 

Timid Toad

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A lot of it is about that arrow wriggling away from the string.
I expect a well set up bow without contact to have a superb soft sound. That can be a crisp sound with a fast bow. I've always laughingly described it as "boing". But clacks, clicks *gunshots* and other sharp noises usually mean contact and occasionally a bow/riser combination that cannot be aligned straight enough (I've only owned one perfectly, *perfectly* straight riser) for whatever reason. Trying to get rid of it by raising and raising the brace height outwith manufacturer's recommendations is curing the symptoms but not the disease and causing more problems. So if I've got noise, I will always firstly check the alignment, then set everything to mid point and if I've still got noise it's almost certainly an arrow spine issue.
 

geoffretired

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I know the feeling, trying something new that seems"wrong".
I have added loops to bow strings as well as cables. Cables take far more strain than the string and they survive. Still, just finding out what it does for lowering bh is worth the effort of trying the loop.. The loop is so easy to make and the number of strands can be greater than that of the string itself.
 
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