What is stacking and set

[ryanfromcanada]

I read alot of you guys referencing a bow taking set, what is that. Also what does stacking or stack refer to.

[youngbowyer33]

set is often confused with string follow.if a stave is reflexed 5", and when it is completely tillered, it is only reflexed 3", then it took 2" of set.string follow is when the bow is no longer reflexed(either because you didnt start with any reflex or not alot) at the end of the tillering and is bent permanently towards the belly. I hope this makes sense, if not a more experienced person can explain it better. And stack, well im not to sure about stack. i think it is if your string angle at the nocks is high then the bow will become harder to pull near the end of the draw, and i also think it causes more handshock. hope this helps

[sailordad]

set-the amount the wood stays bent after the bow is finished

so if you start with a piece of wood that is perfectly straight and make a bow.when the bow is finished and the wood is
no longer flat but is bent towards the belly,lets say one inch,that would be set.now lets say you string the bow and shoot it some and unbrace it
and the limbs are bent towards the belly,lets say 2" from flat,and after short time of being unbraced it settles back to 1".
then you have 1" of set and 1" of follow.
atleast thats the best i can explain it

as far as stacking,someone else will have to answer that

[half eye]

Ryan,
      Sailordad's explanation of set and follow are about as good as I ever heard....listen to him. As to the matter of stack this is how I look at it. If you think about drawing a bow as a "force curve" it should look like a straight line....from 0 and going evenly uphill to full draw....but in real life what happens is you notice a smooth-even draw force to some point and then the force required takes a "spike" (radical increase to continue). My opinion is that the draw force curve is directly tied to your tiller, in other words: if you tiller the entire limb to work progressively throughout the draw length the force required will be even....but if part of the limb works to a certain point (gets maxed out) and then makes some other part of the limb start to work...that's the point that I would call "stack".
      One other form is an even tiller but you have a draw length out of proportion to the length of the bow. I made a few native prymid bows that were 48" and pulled 28"....they STACK!!!! at about the 23 to 24 inch mark they are OK and that last 4 to 5 is a real bear!!!
      As a general rule of thumb try to double the length of your draw and then add about 6 inches.....then tiller very carefully from the handle fades through-out the working section of the limb....it will be smooth as silk....at least it is for me.
      I'm sure one of the old pros can explain it better so hang in there they will get you an answer. Sorry for the long explanation. Old retied guys got nothing better to do than yak
half eye

[Marc St Louis]

This is the description of set and string follow that many, including myself, have accepted.

Set is the permanent deformation of a bow's limbs while string follow is the recoverable deformation of the limbs that occurs after the bow has been unstrung.  Therefore if a bow started out before tillering with 3" of reflex and after tillering held 1" of reflex it took 2" of set.  If after shooting said bow and then removing the string the bow's profile is straight but recovers it's 1" of reflex over a period of time then it follows the string by 1".

Simply, stack is what happens when the bent profile of the bow's limbs get to the point that the string no longer acts in bending the limbs but also in pulling on them.  When that starts to happen you get a dramatic increase in draw weight

[George Tsoukalas]

String follow to me is when I unstring one of my bows and looks like it was strung still. In this case, string follow and set can be synonymous.  However, if I begin a bow with 3 inches of reflex and end up with 1 in. remaining. How can I say the bow follows the string? In my mind, I can't because the bow doesn't look like it's strung when unstrung. Therefore, to accurately describe what the bow/stave has done, I say the bow has taken 2 in of set. That's my story unless I see a description better than this one. Jawge

[islandpiper]

You know there is an old story about the four blind men describing an elephant.   Great study in perception!

I, too, have wondered about the difference between set and string-follow. 

And, yes, I agree that stacking is when the bending force turns into a pulling force.  I'm really not sure if there is any additional energy imparted to the arrow during the "stacking" phase. 

piper

[scp]

It might be useful to think about why we need concepts like "set" or "string follow." "Set" is useful in figuring out whether we are abusing the wood or not. "String follow" is more useful in knowing whether our design or tillering is appropriate.
"Stack" appears to be the sudden increase in resistence to pulling that does not give proportional increase in the stored energy. It is probably caused by the "extreme" string angle. We can use the concept to design a better bow. But only if the definition is correct enough! ;-)

[George Tsoukalas]

Set happens. Jawge