Bows and Stringers

[Ghost Dog]

My bow collection is very diverse. Some bows I push/pull, and some I use a Thunderhorn "rubber pad" stringer. I have thought about the apparent uneven pressure on the limbs, but I keep the pad as close to the string loop as possible before stringing, which in my mind is not harmful to the bow for the very brief moment the stringer is being used. I have had the cup style stringer come off a limb tip a few times when it is almost strung. In those cases the nock had just enough time to catch the string, otherwise I would have lost control of the bow and who knows how that might have turned out. Yikes.

By the way, I know a man who was using the push/pull method and overshot the tip which resulted in hitting and destroying his left eyeball. Be careful.

[Gordon]

By the way, I know a man who was using the push/pull method and overshot the tip which resulted in hitting and destroying his left eyeball. Be careful.

That's why I turn my face away slightly from the tip when using the push pull method - it would so easy to take out an eye if you slipped.

[Marc St Louis]

  You should use the side of your foot.To pull againest it.Not the tip.Be smart use a stringer.

If you use a pressure pad stringer or a sliding limb stringer then you are not being smart at all

[Grunt]

I've found this thread extremely helpful and I want to thank all who put in their two cents. I have been struggling along with one of those pressure pad stringers for a couple of years. I have built about a dozen re/de BBI and getting a string on anything over 60 lbs was so difficult with the stringer I was using I almost gave up. I bought two useless pad stringers, a recurve and a longbow from 3 Rivers and just couldn't get them to function. After reading this tread I cut off both rubber pads, retied a pocket from the longbow stringer where the pad was on the recurve stringer and I have now one stringer with two pockets. I put some leather in the small pocket to build it out so I could slip the string into a nock and presto!!! It actually works like a charm. Thank you all.
Why in the hell do our supporting retailers still sell stringers that do not work?

[4est Trekker]

I use a long stringer with a simple loop tied at each end.  I add a second, shallow stringer nock on one of the bow tips, and leave the other as normal.  There's enough room in the single nock for the stringer to fit securely along with the bowstring.  Here's a pic:

[Traxx]

I didnt read all the replies in the thread,but will comment on 1 particular reply i saw along the way.Now,i voted,,Push/pull,it is what i use most often.I hate lookin for a stringer n it not bein near when ya need it.LOLI do use em in the shop and recomend them to customers,especially for curly bows.Curly bows have more of a tendancy to get squirelly on ya when braceing.
The reply i saw was this.....
i can't do the push/pull method because i'm too weak ,

One of my old archery mentors,many years ago,told me."If ya cant string it,you probly shouldnt be shootin it"He was referrin to straight limb bows and the Push pull method.

[zenmonkeyman]

I've built my (very) few bows with antler tips so I could ground the lower into the dirt/onto the floor, push my knee dead center of the handle, and palm the upper tip back while securing the string with my free right hand.  I'm loading the bow evenly, but I'm not sure it would work for me if I built stronger bows.  I never caught the knack of the step through or the push pull.  I used to use my method guiltily until I saw photos of natives (Papuans I think) doing the same thing.  My face is safe, too.

[bucksbuoy]

A wiser man would use a stringer, I must admit. But I prefer the step through method. I think any way you string a bow can damage it and its all about being consistant, deliberate, and patient. I also try to remember to switch it up and string it upside down sometimes to distribute the stress. But, I picked up a 68"- 80# martin ml-14 a week ago that i "can" step through string, but then Im running for an ice pack. To add insult to injury it has the tiniest tips and there is no room for a conventioanl stringer and pressure pad stringers probably wouldnt work on such a heavy bow. So, I made my own out of some parachute cord and just tied little loops in the ends. It takes some finagling but every other method of stringing just doesnt work for this bow. 

[bucksbuoy]

Ghost Dog. That is a crazy story. Its easy to forget that bows are not toys. they are dangerous. good on ya for reminding us.

[kiltedcelt]

I use the limb pad stringer where the pad looks like a little flint knapped arrow point. I forget the manufacturer, but 3Rivers sells them. I have wondered about how the uneven pressure issue, but when I use the stringer, I push the pad as far as it will go, often partway into the loop of the bow string and then I pull upwards enough to get it strung. It takes a half a second and I personally don't believe that half a second is causing any undue stress, especially since the pad is located fairly close to where the tips stiffen up on my bows. There is very little movement in those tips because they're stiff about 6 inches down, so I don't think it makes much difference. It seems to me almost like the cusp type would overly stress the limb tips. Seems like the best stringer would be some kind of thing that would use dual pads on either side just below the limb tips/nocks.

[Marc St Louis]

Consider that when you make a bow it is tillered so that the string pulls back on the limbs from the tips.  There is no doubt that a pressure pad stringer or a sliding limb stringer will most definitely put uneven pressure on the limbs.  This uneven pressure will cause one limb, usually the lower, to be worked more than the other.  The more highly stressed your bow, the more damage it will sustain.  Anyone that claims that this will not harm a bow over time does not know what they are talking about or doesn't have the necessary experience to be able to tell the difference.  These stringers were made for glass bows and should not be used on wood bows

[sailordad]

Consider that when you make a bow it is tillered so that the string pulls back on the limbs from the tips.  There is no doubt that a pressure pad stringer or a sliding limb stringer will most definitely put uneven pressure on the limbs.  This uneven pressure will cause one limb, usually the lower, to be worked more than the other.  The more highly stressed your bow, the more damage it will sustain.  Anyone that claims that this will not harm a bow over time does not know what they are talking about or doesn't have the necessary experience to be able to tell the difference.  These stringers were made for glass bows and should not be used on wood bows

   

what he said 

[jwillis]

When I'm working in my shop I use a two post stringer on my work bench. When elsewhere, I use the push/pull method on longbows and a Selway stringer on fiberglass recurves...the type with the nylon pocket on one end and the rubber slider on the other end. Jim

[Del the cat]

I've built my (very) few bows with antler tips so I could ground the lower into the dirt/onto the floor, push my knee dead center of the handle, and palm the upper tip back while securing the string with my free right hand.  I'm loading the bow evenly, but I'm not sure it would work for me if I built stronger bows.  I never caught the knack of the step through or the push pull.  I used to use my method guiltily until I saw photos of natives (Papuans I think) doing the same thing.  My face is safe, too.

Hey zendude, I use the knee method too especially onwide bows where the string won't slip down the limb.
Maybe it needs a proper name... the 'Dirtfloorkneepull' method about covers it
Del

[JackCrafty]

I used to do it like this:







Now I just let Her do it.