How much "set" is acceptable in red oak?

[kinslayer1965]

Just curious as to how much set is acceptable and when does it become an indicator of inpending breakage? I already have one bow in peices on my dining room table to remind me to slow down. This bow seems to shoot very well and it has take a set of just under two inches. I will have to get some unbraced pictures and a money shot to post but this is what I have now.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Set isnt neccesarily attributed to breaking. Wonderfully tillered, long lasting bows take set, they all do. 2" on a straight bow isnt bad providing your tiller is good.

[DarkSoul]

Indeed; set doesn't mean the bow is approaching its breaking point. It's just an indicator over an overstressed design.

Anything under 2" is perfectly fine with me, and between 2 and 2½" is acceptable for me.

[ionicmuffin]

i think what i would want to know is how much set is to be anticipated as normal if you take all the steps to minimizing set. on red oak what would be average for well tillered and carefully tillered bow? how about osage? how about hickory?

[Bryce]

Set isnt neccesarily attributed to breaking. Wonderfully tillered, long lasting bows take set, they all do. 2" on a straight bow isnt bad providing your tiller is good.

+1

[Joec123able]

2 inchs isn't bad at all it's just the wood settling into bending

[George Tsoukalas]

When choosing a board, choose straight grained stock from tip to tip if possible. If not a couple of run ups are acceptable. Jawge

[Slackbunny]

Set isn't necessarily all bad either, especially on heavier bows. It makes them easier to string and smoother to draw. It does rob from your performance, but there is more to arrow speed than how many inches of set or reflex you have.

I personally prefer the look of bows that have a couple inches of set, and looks count for a lot in my opinion.

Excessive set is bad thing though, and more than a few inches is doing far more harm than good.   

[kinslayer1965]

Thanks for all the replies. Sounds like I am OK with this bow. I used bubby's build along as a guide for this bow and I am pleased with the results so far. Still got a little scraping to do to get the tiller just where I want it. Thought I had it but after putting the fabric on the back of the bow it for some reason seemed to stiffen up the lower limb more so that the upper limb.

Some of the builders on this sight will for soem reason make the lower limb shorter than the upper or vice versa. What is the purpose for that? I shoot 3 fingers under so I am trying for 3/8 positive tiller. Should I be shortening one of the limbs as well?

Thanks again for the replies.

CR

[Joec123able]

The reasons some guys do that is because the bottom limb is under a little more stress and making it shorter to stiffen it alittle is to take that excess stress off

[danny f]

i am glad you asked this question as i have been wondering about it for a while. most of my bows have been from ash boards and they have all taken a couple of inches of set. i have not overdrawn, or drawn above the weight as was aiming for  and have taken my time tillering. none have broken on me and they shoot well. so it hasnt bothered me. my main concern was with my trade bow as that  has taken 2" of set and i wasnt sure if this was acceptable or not.

[dmc]

Kinslayer, are those skins the faux ones from 3Rivers? I bought both the diamond back and the copperhead ones. I really like the look of them. For the price you can't beat it.

[kinslayer1965]

Yes they are from 3rivers. Did not want to spend the money for real skins until my bow making skill was a bit better! Really pleased with the result. Used TB3 then coated with thin super glue. Really thought the color and overall appearance came out nice. Funny thing is I paid $20 for that 2" wide strip of cloth and when I went to wally world to get a decent pair of scissors to cut it I found some snake skin pattern cloth for $7 a yard. Looks like python and for $14 I got enough for 20 bows. I have an Osage board and hickory backing strip that I plan on working on after I practice on a couple more Lowes boards. Maybe I will spring for some real skins for that one.

CR