can't get rid of set

[Hickoryswitch]

I just got done building a hickory bow 64'' ntn 60lbs @ 28''. It is 2'' wide tapering to 1/2''.  Should this bow have an 1  of set. I did'nt over stress it while tillering i was very careful not to draw past my desired weight or with any problem areas in limbs. So what gives am i making it too short for this draw weight and length?

[Jesse]

Im not the pro but 1" of set sound great to me for that design. How does it shoot? Pics?

[RG]

Have you sealed it yet And Pappy would tell you to heat and put it on a form and bend it

Ron

[FlintWalker]

If you started with a straight or even slightly reflexed stave, i'd say that is very good.  I wouldn't worry at all about 1"

[Pat B]

1" is not bad at all. You are dealing with a wood that is strong in tension but not necessarily strong in compression and most of al,l you are dealing with wood! Wood stretches and compresses. some set is not only acceptable but is expected in a wood bow.
   If your bow has a low M/C (6%) and the tips were reduced to 3/8" or less it should to be a fairly quick bow.    Pat

[adb]

Hi,
Are you kidding? You're kidding, right? An inch of set??!! For a 60#, 64" hickory selfbow?
Take that bow, brace it up and go shooting. While you're out, give yourself a big pat on the back for a job well done!! Why do people get so uptight about set? That amount of set, for that bow, is a GOOD thing!! It will make the bow better.
Relax, you're doing just fine!! Now, go make another one.

[michbowguy]

set happens.
 

[PatM]

 People need to start looking back to the old time Hill and Schulz style American longbows where they would actually make them with deliberate set.
 Check out Miller longbows for recent examples.

[Pat B]

Jamie, That would make a good bumper sticker!  SET HAPPENS     Pat

[Pappy]

1 inch ant bad at all ,if like saw filer if you started flat or with just a little reflex.In fact
that is really good.We always start with 3 or 4 inches of reflex and hope for them to wind up
with an inch or so of reflex left witch if you think about it that is 2 inches of set.There
is a difference in set and string follow.Lets see some pictures.
    Pappy

[medicinewheel]

set happens.
 

now THAT is a goodone!!! really funny!

i think too, that an inch of set for a bow of these dimensions and wood is rather good!

frank

[SimonUK]

We see so many pictures on here of dead straight bows - I wonder how they do it?  It's easy to get disheartened about set in our own bows.  I've got 3 inches of set in my latest longbow and feel like giving up.

[GregB]

what Pappy said...

[Hillbilly]

Only 1" of set in a hickory bow that short at that poundage is awesome and won't hurt a thing. I don't know why people get so tore down over a little set-as long as it ain't several inches it won't affect cast that much, and might make it more accurate. Wood always takes set. Most of the bows you see with no set were started out with a few inches of forced reflex. If you read through the TBB bow design and performance chapter, Baker considered 1 1/2"  of set as the norm for a selfbow. when it gets so that it looks braced when it's not, that's a different story, though.  I was reading "Hunting the Hard Way" by Howard Hill a while back, and I noticed a good bit of string follow on all his bows in the pics. The pics with dead elk, deer, sheep, bears, jaguars, mountain lions, and all the other big nasty critters he killed with his string following bows.

[Ranger B]

I just bought Dean Torges's video "Hunting the Bamboo Backed Bow" and as I recall he said if you put 3 inches of reflex into a bow and then shoot it in you generally get a straight bow and that's a bamboo backed bow.  Following that logic, you would never get a straight bow to remain straight after shooting it in, especially a selfbow.  It's just not possible for the wood not to get a little set after it's been bent a good bit.  Hackberry is pretty soft and I shot my hackberry selfbow for about 4 years before I began to notice that it was getting beyond managable set.  I actually didn't retire it until Pappy told me it would be a good idea three weeks ago.  Even with a lot of string follow it shot slow but great with light arrows.