string follow,good bad or ugly?

[PEARL DRUMS]

Same here Greg. Every once in a while you run into an elm that is snappy. I wish I knew the characteristics ahead of time. Hardness doesn't seem to matter.

[Tuomo]

    Thats not too bad considering the amount of reflex you have in the bow. I have found a bow that doesn't recover after sitting for a while will actually perform better than a bow with the same profile that does recover. Recovery is an indicator of hysterisis in the bow. Thats one of the reasons I cut way back on the amount of reflex I build into the bows.

Does that simply mean that bow which has less set, is better? As it of course should be. Does the same profile means profile right after shooting (unstringing) or after resting a day? So, is (side profile) recovering similar variable as set right after shooting? The bow, which has less set after shooting is better than bow which has more reflex after recovering but less right after shooting?

This phenomenon is viscoelasticity.

en wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscoelasticity

Maybe different wood species has different viscoelasticity "coeffiecient"?

And maybe we should define term "set" better. Is it set right after shooting (unstringing) or after resting an hour, a day, etc.? Is set just inaccurate estimate of hysteresis of the bow? This is very interesting but also quite challenging topic!

[Badger]

    Thats not too bad considering the amount of reflex you have in the bow. I have found a bow that doesn't recover after sitting for a while will actually perform better than a bow with the same profile that does recover. Recovery is an indicator of hysterisis in the bow. Thats one of the reasons I cut way back on the amount of reflex I build into the bows.

Does that simply mean that bow which has less set, is better? As it of course should be. Does the same profile means profile right after shooting (unstringing) or after resting a day? So, is (side profile) recovering similar variable as set right after shooting? The bow, which has less set after shooting is better than bow which has more reflex after recovering but less right after shooting?

 

  Tuomo, set is what you see the instant you unstring the bow, in reality it is probably about double what you actually see. The bottom line is string tension at brace after the bow has been taken to full draw a few times, that tells all you need to know.
This phenomenon is viscoelasticity.

en wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscoelasticity

Maybe different wood species has different viscoelasticity "coeffiecient"?

And maybe we should define term "set" better. Is it set right after shooting (unstringing) or after resting an hour, a day, etc.? Is set just inaccurate estimate of hysteresis of the bow? This is very interesting but also quite challenging topic!

[DuBois]

Very interesting read. Thanks!

[bushboy]

Thanks for the replies!interesting stuff!this is one half of a stave of a small tree(the other half is not finished).this bow had deflex right off the saw and also had a quite low bend resistance,but after recurving, set back handle and a heavy heating it pick up quite a bit of draw weight.it's short @ 55" ttt and around 35#@24",made for my cousin chery and only weighs 12.5 oz.yesterday,braced and 10 arrows it followed the string 1"and back to the original profile of 4-1/4" in front of the handle in short order.

[Aaron H]

Very nice, I like that willow leaf profile bushy

[bradsmith2010]

no matter what the set "looks like",, for me the bottom line is how does it perform,, its nice to learn bout this too,,
if you have same weight and draw bows and one  holds 3 inche reflex, and it shoots the same as a bow with 1 inch follow,, the above discussion puts light on why this could be,, but still for me the performance of the bow tells the real story for me,,
yes I look at the set and how it recovers too,, but how it shoots is the most important to me,,
if you have not shot it through a chrono,, or flight tested it,,  the look of the bow may not tell you what you need or want to know,, or the profile may mislead you to think it is shooting better than it might be,,, or it may be shooting better than you thought,,especially if it has a bit of follow,,

[Pappy]

Nice looking bow, glad it came out to suite you. I like a bow to hold reflex of course but mostly because they seem to be smoother to draw and less stack at the end with the early string tension. Other than that a little string follow don't mean you haven't built a good bow. Of course set and string follow are 2 different things and a lot of set isn't good. I always like them to return to profile after a rest but what I really look at is where they are as soon as it is unstrung. Nice thread.
 Pappy