Chronographed my go to selfbow

[bradsmith2010]

Its a useful tool,,.
It helped me improve the bows I made..it was not so much about the speed,,,but improving the bow,,
When someone says,,,hey is 150fps with 500 grain arrow good for deer,,,I can give good advice,.based on bows I have hunted with and chronoed...
    You can shoot a 50# bow that shoots like a 30# bow and kill a deer,,,,but I always wanted to shoot something reasonably efficient,,,or if I pulled 50#,,.get the most for my effort,,,I guess I was a little lazy,,,the chrono was easier than shooting for distance,,,and easier to compare to other bows...
   Went I first started making bow I went to visit
Byron Ferguson,,.first thing he did was shoot it through a chrono,...guess that got me started

[HH~]

 Trying to understand? So, If yer a crappy shot, unless your shooting flight how does it help to know how fast an arrow hits the dirt?

I understand early and late weight. I tend to like shooting a bow that picks up weight mid draw to end (long arms). They are not as fast but they shoot better off my hand. One that has early string weight and gains weight about they same all way thru draw are more efficient and usually faster. In the end its the one that brings home food for the babies consistently is my bow I grab.

Shawn~

[Stick Bender]

I personally find the Chrono a valuable tool for perfecting a design , performance usually comes in small incremental changes paticurly with natural materials , it's great for monitoring mass reduction/performance changes & limb front view profiles as well as reflex changes , string angle Ect , it has made me a better bowyer in a shorter amount of time , it's not about whether my bow will kill a dear , all on the wall will do that ,it's about trying to get the most out of what I'm working on with out sacrificing durability !

[Pat B]

I did chrono one bow of mine years ago but the numbers were so discouraging I never did it again. After 30+ years of building and shooting wood bows I can tell from the first shot from a bow  if it is a shooter or a good shooter. Either will do the job intended.
 I'm not a tech guy, that's why I chose to make and shoot wood bows. I'm not against technology and I do appreciate folks that do study and implement technology to improve the cast and durability of a wood bow . It's just not for me.

[bradsmith2010]

yes do what you enjoy about bow making,, like Geroge said,, no rules,, just enjoy,,

[SLIMBOB]

Wheelbow shooter since the 70's and an avid one through the 80 and into the 90's.  Chronoing your arrows was just part of the fun.  Who's bow is faster, mine or yours?  At some point radical cams, over draws and carbon shafts became the rage, and if speed was the goal, you either went with those mods or...yours was slower.  I didn't like shooting an over draw nor severe cam wheels as they tended to degrade my accuracy.  I stayed with full length aluminum shafts and more or less round wheel bows.  I was not shooting arrows over 300 fps like some of my peers, but at 30 yards I could drill bottle caps...and my bows were quiet and therefore deadly.  Chasing the fastest arrow speed was just no longer the goal...for me.  Early to mid 90's I began the self bow journey and just getting a bow to hold together was a feat.  My effective range on my target was 10 to 15 yards (that's giving me the benefit of the doubt).  Quiet bows with good arrow flight became the quest for me.  All these years later and I have not shot thru a chrono more than a handful of times but...I'm there.  I believe I build a decent bow.  Durable, quiet, decent looking, but can I tweak a limb tip and pickup a few fps.  Is this width giving me the best results or can I go more narrow.  Length?  Design?  Species?  Ring thickness?  Tempering?  I am at a point where these questions are on my mind.  I'm not doing it to see if I am faster than my buddy.  I am curious to see if I can tweak the next one just a tad and make it faster than the last one.  It's somewhat the next frontier for me in my bow making.  Maybe even one of the last frontiers.  But it's a frontier that I spent some time on some decades ago...and using a chrono then made me a better shooter, as I was more focused on having everything perfectly tuned for maximum effect.  I think that's what I am after now. 

[bradsmith2010]

things learned and shared by guys flight shooting and chrono work,,  help us make a better bow,,
  I dont really need one now,,, so many have shared info,,
  If I make a bow,, and it does not have too much mass,, its about the right length,, the draw is about right for the length,, and it holds a nice unstrung profile,, tips are reasonable,,  it will shoot pretty good through a chrono,, wether you test it or not,, you can pretty much guess how its gonna shoot,, and I do quite often when a friend is making a bow,, I can get pretty close to hows its gonna shoot,,,
   if the bow is too long,, has 3 inches of string follow,, its probably not a real hard shooter for its draw,, but if its accurate,, and say 60# bow,, it will make a good hunter,,
and never need to test it,,,  it just depends on what the archer wants to do,,
    when I make a bow for someone,, I gonna test it,, its like the final quality check,,it has to perform well, or I wont send it,,
     if its my own personal bow I may not,, unless one of my bow friends wants to know how it shoots,,,
      I shot at a nice buck couple of years ago,, with a bow I did not test,, it had no string follow and was about 60#,,,nice easy shot,, hit him righ in the horns,, It had enough speed to send pieces of arrow all over the place,, I still need to sand the rasp marks out of that bow,,

[DC]

Like I said, I'm a speed freak. I'm not a hunter. They are two different parts of the same hobby. For a hunter, comfort, repeatability and dependability are where it's at. Speed comes in fourth, at best. For me speed comes first. Always has, always will. When I made my second slingshot when I was a boy it had to be better(faster) than the first or there was no point making it.
Some of us are built like that. At least I hope there's others

[PatM]

Yep, speed is always just as high in the picture for me.

 Why wouldn't one want to get the best of all possible characteristics?

 

[DC]

 Why wouldn't one want to get the best of all possible characteristics?

Yes, of course, but if I have to sacrifice something, speed will be the last thing

[SLIMBOB]

I won't go that far.  But to discount arrow speed as unimportant is simply ignoring a pretty crucial component in all this.

[PatM]

 Why wouldn't one want to get the best of all possible characteristics?

Yes, of course, but if I have to sacrifice something, speed will be the last thing

  My point was that speed does not have to be sacrificed.

[DC]

Agreed. I was just accenting my priorities

[Stick Bender]

I agree sped doesn't sacrifice accuracy , but it's a whole combination of things that makes a good bow to me , but one of these days I want to make a HH style follow bow ,I shot one before and it was one of the most docile  bows I ever shot but probably in the 160s fps at my long draw but a tac driver !

[bjrogg]

I was simply answering Jim's question from my personal experience. I believe he wants to hunt with his bow and a 611 grain arrow with good arrow flight moving at 155fps hitting the vitals is everything he needs. As long as he likes everything else about the bow. That's plenty for hunting.

I agree with DC though. Everyone is different. Some people like a good old farm truck. Some people like a Lamborghini. Some people like something in between.  Some people like a really fast farm truck.

I think most of us like fast bows and strive to make them. If I had a chrono I'm sure I'd fling some arrows through it. It would be interesting. I doubt it would have much effect on what I thought was a good bow or a bad bow though. That I just need to shoot it to know.
Bjrogg