Badger,
Let me reexplain even though I go through it on my buildalongs.
So what I do is loop the string over the nocks, stretch it taught, mark it, and measure down 10 inches. String length is a little over the length of the limb.
Then I begin to get the limbs bending well and reduce the weight.
I aim for target weight + 5# at 10 inches of string movement...NOT tip movement. The tips move at best 2-3 inches in a finished bow.Then I string it. Low brace. This puts me 10-15# over target weight which is enough for me to tiller the bow. But the limbs are not too heavy to string the bow without needlessly stressing the limbs.
I've tested it. It works. I've used it since the early 90s.
"String movement tells you exactly nothing unless you start the string from the exact same place every time. (I start at the same place).Just reading the weight where you are at is far more accurate and it doesn't even matter all that much how much slack is in your string as long as you are somewhere between 2" and 10" slack it will read very much the same at the same draw length. (Yes, we are making in roads. I do measure weight as I go along. I told you this last time we discussed this. The length of the long string doesn't matter much). Not trying to disagree with you but string movement doesn't tell anything. (It tells you how well the limbs are bending and if you measure the weight at 10" it predicts the future bow weight.)"
So that's how I determine when the bow is ready for the short string.
Jawge