Break In

[Badger]

I have got a stack of old junk boardbows in the garage, I am going to brace one measure the drw weight and then leave it braced for a week come back and see how much it has changed, i will report back just for the heck of it. Steve

[George Tsoukalas]

Thanks for the kind words, Badger. Nice of you. Jawge

[DanaM]

Steve out of curiousity could you leave two bows braced one in a dry area and one in a humid enviroment.
Perhaps you have two similar bows so its apples to apples.

[Kegan]

Guess I was kinda (extremely) vague .

When I go to leave them braced, they are tillered to brace, and close to weight (acutally, several pounds under). I use a long string to get them to brace, then check the weight, then leave it braced (5"-6"). I have trouble getting them too heavy- as my desired weight is usally 80# or more on longbows. After twenty four hours, they show little to no string follow. The white oak I am currently finishing up actually held some of it's initial relfex after about thirty hours. I avoid any weak spots where compaction could occur.

Sorry 'bout that .

[Badger]

Dana, thats a good point. I gave a bow to my brotherinlaw once in ms, he never unbraced the bow for a solid year in very humid weather, when I came back a year later the bow string had no tension on it, the string was still straight but just barely.  We habe quite a bit of dew here at night so if I just left one bow sit outside it would proablybe a good test. Steve

[Justin Snyder]

Guess I was kinda (extremely) vague .

When I go to leave them braced, they are tillered to brace, and close to weight (acutally, several pounds under). I use a long string to get them to brace, then check the weight, then leave it braced (5"-6"). I have trouble getting them too heavy- as my desired weight is usally 80# or more on longbows. After twenty four hours, they show little to no string follow. The white oak I am currently finishing up actually held some of it's initial relfex after about thirty hours. I avoid any weak spots where compaction could occur.

Sorry 'bout that .

Kegan, a bow tillered to 45# at brace may be under the final weight by 8 pounds at brace but still be seriously over weight at full draw.  I would never leave one strung unless you are really close or at final tiller. 

[Pappy]

I never leave one strung any longer than it needs to be,if I am tillering it I leave it strung,
if I am hunting I leave it strung or if I am shootinf a course I leave it strung ,but any time
while doing any of the things that it don't need to be strung I unstring it,if only for a short
time.If I shoot a 40 target course that is broke up in 2 20's I unstring it after the last shot and restring when I get ready to start the 2nd half.It's wood and it will wear out no matter what,
I see no sense in rushing it.
    Pappy

[George Tsoukalas]

I do as Pappy does. Jawge

[Marc St Louis]

Kegan
If a bow breaks on you it's not because you didn't have it braced for 24 hours to start off.  You should look for another reason to explain your broken bows

[Rich Saffold]

Got me laughing Marc! Kegan as you have read there's a "few" roads to the promised land, and they are all good..If I'm making a selfbow for someone, I'm going slower than usual, its getting left braced longer initially, and I am shooting it perhaps 1000 times before it leaves me. It's going to have a little more mass than my own bows, and a fatter string, plus its a wood I have used many times before..

If its a new species which is mainly what I use when making personal selfbows. (There's lots of new species where I live) I push it as far as I think I can get away with, its at full draw usually within minutes of stringing, and I don't care if it blows since that will tell me what to do with the second piece, but this is quite rare..

So more than anything else I tell beginners just to slow down, since the info about what to do is here, but success in the beginning just takes patience and perseverance..lots of both..

Rich- The species book for our town is 460 pages

[Kegan]

Kegan
If a bow breaks on you it's not because you didn't have it braced for 24 hours to start off.  You should look for another reason to explain your broken bows

I do- impatience .