How important is string alignment really?

[BetterTrees]

I am by no means a seasoned bowyer or archer. I started building bows a year ago and have a dozen or so failures and half that many successes under my belt (as well as dozens of bows started in some way), mainly because I have problems just doing what is easy or predictable.
I have played with heat treating bellies but not correcting alignment with heat.
Several of my bows have had alignment issues because there was just enough curve in the stave that I couldn't get it to cross the handle without unreasonable radial grain violation.
The thing is that while I'm a terrible shot, I don't get any worse when the string lines up a quarter inch outside the handle as long as I am shooting a stiff enough arrow.
Is this just dogma, or does it matter just enough to affect people who have a tight group at twenty yards or more, or is the theoretical twist that the bow experiences at release actually greatly affecting arrow flight and I'm just not picking up on it?

[bradsmith2010]

if the bow shoots well and gets good arrow flight,, the string alignment is ok,,

[bownarra]

To get the string in the middle of the handle (virtually everytime!) is to simply leave the handle section full width until you get the bow braced for the first time and you can see where the string wants to sit naturally.....then you simply shape the handle TO the string line.
Even dead straight staves can twist a little once bent. I find it funny when people say that the string sitting outside the handle makes it 'centershot'.....no it makes the bow torque unless you allow the grip to rotate so its center and the string line up.

[Del the cat]

Yes it matters.
Sometimes a bow doesn't shoot or feel right, and a few minutes shaping at the grip and arrow pass can make all the difference. If string alignment is way out the bow will start bending slightlt sideways. I was on a shoot one time and saw a guy shooting a Yew ELB. The sapwood was lierally at about 45 degrees to the back of the bow, instead of being square across the back. The bow had taken a nasty set and couldn't vouch for its potential longevity.
Del

[Selfbowman]

It makes them full of shock if string alignment is off either way. Someone will probably get on here and say it does not matter . That just means they have never shot a good one. 🤠🤠

[Pappy]

Yes it matters, at least to me, if you are already using heat it's not a big deal to align the string while doing the heat treating. Just a few clamps and pull it one way or the other, you can usually look at the limb when strung and see where you need to bend, here is one I tweaked the alignment this weekend. 
Pappy

[Eric Krewson]

Like Pappy string alignment is a must for me, partly because bad string alignment shouts bad craftsmanship but most important to me is I have the kind of arm the string finds every time on the shoot to some degree. After 60 years of shooting a bow every way possible with the same result, I just live with it and shoot very well in spite of it. Good string alignment determines whether I get a little tink or a huge string slap on release.

Another thing; with consistent string alignment bow to bow the same arrows will shoot well out of all my bows of the same poundage.

[Allyn T]

My only bow I've made the string alignment is off towards the arrow side, which I thought would be good for arrow spine leniency. Turns out it is horrible for string slap. Makes me wanna not even shoot that bow.

[George Tsoukalas]

I don't care about it as long as the string is on the handle. So that I don't get forearm slap, I shoot the bow from the other side, if you know what I mean i.e where the string is furthest from center shot. Jawge

[WhistlingBadger]

What do you guys think of Ryan Gill's article last fall about arrow spine?  If I remember correctly, he said that he makes his bows so that the inevitable wiggle is a the handle, making his bows closer to center shot, which makes it less necessary to worry about arrow spine.

[Jim Davis]

Apart from, but affecting, the original question, no matter what the bow is like, if you were to aim the same and shoot the same arrow, the hit would always be in the same place.

The bow always does the same thing. If the arrows are all the same, each shot will fly the same.

[TimBo]

I think there is a big difference in balance between having a small wiggle that works like a cut-in riser, and having the whole grip out of line. 

[sleek]

 Not very, unless it's a recurve, then extremely.

[aznboi3644]

My hickory hunting bow has the string slightly off center of the handle. I’ve shot it both ways. And it shoots the best with the arrow on side where the string is further away from the arrow side.  Weird but it shoots very well.

[BetterTrees]

Thanks for the input everyone.
I was asking because I am working on my first tillered Osage stave. There are a few that I need to chase a ring on, but they're above my tillering skill at this point.
It has stupid tiny rings and the normal amount of character... So I was rough on one spot chasing the back and popped a splinter. I repaired it with what I had on hand which was CA glue, backed it with linen fabric using titebond 2, and went to play with it after adjusting the tiller a little.
It does have a serious plunk on release and the string sits outside the handle. I was just trying to talk myself out of heating it after gluing a backing on it, but I have decided that I'm going whole hog and seeing what I learn. I'm steaming in mild-ish recurves and going to align the string and see how it feels if it holds up. I have a 26" draw that shortens when I'm a little hunched over so I figured that the 52" stave would make a straight tipped bow with a slightly bendy handle, but the stack is miserable for me on top of string slap and handshock.

If it survives, I'll start a thread for it. So far, Osage is impressive stuff.