Does string follow lead to set?

[George Tsoukalas]

LOL, PD. THat would be an interesting dissertation for pHD. Jawge

[PatM]

Well anyone with a minimal knowledge of bending wood permanently knows that by using heat or steam  we are permanently collapsing or at least compressing the wood on the concave side of the bend.  Do you think those wood cells magically vanish in order to get out of the way?
 Of course they have to be "damaged" in order to do that. Why would this cause more breakage?  Chrysals have the potential to decrease breakage, not increase it.
 Plenty of leeway to straighten wood by "damaging" it before it becomes more likely to break.
 It also depends what you mean by "heating and bending towards the tips". Bending which way? Recurving or flipping? Straightening kinks so that they are flat...?

[PEARL DRUMS]

Pat if I start tillering with 4" of reflex and end up with 2" of reflex after shoot in. Is that string follow? Or set?

[SLIMBOB]

  And to PD's question, I pose the opposite.  If I design an R/D bow to have the tips lie 1 inch behind the handle before it's ever shot in, does that bow follow the string?

[PatM]

 It's called string follow because the string is the force that applies the set. I'm not sure why this degree of something is so hard to grasp.
  I've often said that nobody but the builder knows the original profile of the stave so why so much agonizing over what to call it?
 Technically I would say that from an original profile of 4 inches of reflex, your stave has followed the string to 2 inches of set from the original profile.
 So it has either  2 inches of string follow or 2 inches of set, because they are the same thing.
 Remember you're giving all the data. If you just handed someone a shot in stave with 2 inches of reflex they wouldn't be able to even discuss it's degree of set/string follow, even though it is hidden in there.
 

[PEARL DRUMS]

Its not hard to grasp my friend, its hard to agree with.

[PatM]

Since you do "get" it then you will soon realize it's semantics..

[sharpend60]

 PatM,

Why do people bother differentiating between string follow and set?

PearlDrums,

'

String follow and set are two totally different birds and do not mean the same thing, not even close.

What are you definitions?
We all know you can build a decent bow, lets hear it.

[PatM]

I really don't know why they bother. I think it's partially a need to over-complicate things.
 Bottom line is how lively the bow stays when shooting, not what it does when unstrung or what it originally looked like.
 

[blackhawk]

So if they are the same thing then two identical bows shot in with 1" of reflex,one starting with 1 1/2" reflex and the other that started with 6" are the same thing? Do the math. They are NOT the same. If I posted a bow that was 1" reflex and it started with 6" and I said in my post it had 5" of string follow, I would get a whole bunch of people confused saying "huh".."what".." that doesn't look like 5" of string follow to me". And by your definition this bow wood have 5" of string follow? Separating the two by different definitions clarify this.

Set and string follow are two different definitions. <----thats a period.

[blackhawk]

  And to PD's question, I pose the opposite.  If I design an R/D bow to have the tips lie 1 inch behind the handle before it's ever shot in, does that bow follow the string?

Yes it does have one inch of string follow because you induced it..read the simple definition Bryce posted...

[sharpend60]

Set and string follow are two different definitions. <----thats a period.

What are the definitions?
And where does the 'temporary set' fit ?
Btw...
Ive read the definations in TBB4. But other places in the book (s) it says something like " the bow has taken only 1/2" set and follows the sting just 1" after unstringing...."
That implies something else is happening. Not set.

I know this is a contentious subject... But this is exactly what these forums are for and how we advance our art....

[blackhawk]

Set: permanent deflection on the limbs, resulting from compression of belly wood beyond its elastic limit. Set and string follow are not the same.

String follow: where by set, design, or natural deflex in the stave, an unbraced bows tips rest some distance bellyward of the back. Usually the result of set.

   -TBB4

Kind of restates what some have already stated. But this seems more basic to understand.

Its already been stated multiple times..and Bryce stated them the easiest in layman's terms quoted from the tbb..

[blackhawk]

Set and string follow are two different definitions. <----thats a period.

What are the definitions?
And where does the 'temporary set' fit ?
Btw...
Ive read the definations in TBB4. But other places in the book (s) it says something like " the bow has taken only 1/2" set and follows the sting just 1" after unstringing...."
That implies something else is happening. Not set.

That means that bow started out with a 1/2" string follow probably due to the natural state of the stave

I know this is a contentious subject... But this is exactly what these forums are for and how we advance our art....

[sharpend60]

Set is more like a verb and string follow adjective, I get it.

What I really want to know... and hasnt yet been answered is...

Will my bow not bounce back?
If after unstung it follows 1 inch, is that a predictable indicator of set?
So far PD's first post has come the close but isn't nearly complete.
 
And what of bow that are 10 years old?
Do they still bounce back to the unstrung profile?