"STRING FOLLOW"...ain't all that bad !!

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

Gotta admit that I'm severely guilty of trying really hard to get my bows to finish with some retained reflex, I just love the look of a bow that goes back to being reflexed after shooting it, as a matter of fact I got so obsessed that anything  less than strait I would consider a failure.

But when I really look back at the facts, I realise that bows with some string follow ( now I'm talking moderate here) are extremely plesant to shoot and still do the job they are asked to do.

this bow for example, my 7th, is farely overbuilt and has some follow









This bow shoots beautyfully, and took 2 pigs in his hunting carrear, the first with a pass thru, the pig never heard anything, and walked away just to lay down in sigth to die.

the second one after a doubble loung shot never made it 30 yards.




the other example is from a little 56 1/2" bow with 2' of follow








2 years ago I was hunting with this bow, I took a shot at a fair sized pig, I was shooting from an elevated position, the shot was true but high, hit the strong neck muscle area above where the spine dips, the bow is in the mid/high 50's and I was shooting a 640gr arrow,...the arrow was sticking out just about the same ammount from both sides of the pig, I was extremely disappointed by the penetration, and never hunted this bow again.

...a couple of months ago I was hunting a 72# HILL bow shooting a 830gr arrow, I hit a pig in the same exact spot as I did in the previous story, I was even shooting from a bit of elevation, the pig was just about the same size to, and you know what ? the arrow was sticking out evenly on both sides of the pig.

this made me rethink about that, that little bow with string follow has plenty power in it after all.

I realised that stressing to much about retaining refex in my bows might be a bit pointless.

[Pappy]

You are right Manny,and I am just like you,it don't really matter,just a personal thing I guess.
I don't mind it after it has been shot a lot,but still hate to have string follow right off the bat.
   Pappy

[DanaM]

Nope nothing wrong with some string follow and its good to hear someone with your talent say it Manny.
I like mine to finish flat but I usually have an inch or so of follow but I only induce a little reflex.

[GregB]

Enjoyed your stories Manny, and the pic's of the hogs! I agree with you and appreciate you stating your feelings on it. I'm kind of like you and Pappy in that I like the bow at least flat. But as Dana said, and I agree...some of the amount of string follow in a newly finished bow to some degree depends on the amount of reflex the bow had when starting tillering.

If you started the tillering process with a bow without any reflex in it up front, it would take a very skilled bowyer to finish the bow with it still flat when unbraced.

Greg

[StanM]

I remember when you made that first bow pictured, Manny.  She's a beaut!  I used to make a lot of bows from boards when we made selfbows in the archery class that I teach.  They all had some stringfollow to them.  Now we make fiberglass bows because the kids don't break them nearly as often 

I still have a couple of the board bows that I made as a demo for the students.  Just yesterday I was shooting one because it's only 45# and I injured my shoulder.  It seemed slow, but what a joy to shoot!  I was only at about 15-17 yards and the arrows which were close to 600 grains had some pretty good arc to them, even at that short range.  However, they arched pretty consistently right into the center of my target!  I haven't shot that good in a long, long time.  It was fun.

So, to get to the point of your thread, maybe on my next bow I should consider what it is that I want my bow to do, and build it accordingly.

Based on points of emphasis how would you build your next bow?

Points of emphasis;

1. Quiet
2. Accurate
3. Easy to shoot from different positions
4. Fast enough to put a 650 grain arrow through a deer 

Stan

[Traxx]

Good thread Manny.You are comming to a conclusion,that many a accomplished bowyer has stated for yrs.SF,was accepted as a good thing by many,untill this whole speed thing became the main criteria for a hunting bow.One of the chief things that drew me to Bowhunting and archery,was the quietness of it.

[armymedic.2]

i agree whole heartedly.  i have not put "the opposite bend" in any of my bows yet, so i always expected string follow, and i have gotten it to some degree.  my hick boo combo has about 3 inches, more than i would like, but it shoots sweet so i don't care.  the ipe i just finished has almost none, and it shoots well too.   i know the hick shoots pretty sweet, but the handshock it has i have to think it is because of the tips being too thick.    anyway, i like to see flat, but i think they do just fine with some sf.  if it does what you ask, is quiet when doing it, is pretty while doing it, and does it with pnch, what more can you look for?

[Ryano]

Manny, I have a few bows that look sorta like that short one you have there. They all seem to perform very well actualy. Even though the tips do set behind the back of the bow the limbs still hold in a reflexed postion which seems to still make for good early draw weight, its not spongey like a straight bow with string follow. I do however still prefer the look of a bow with unbraced reflex.

[Gordon]

If you started the tillering process with a bow without any reflex in it up front, it would take a very skilled bowyer to finish the bow with it still flat when unbraced.

I think for most useful bow designs it would take more than a skilled bowyer - it would take a miracle...

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

Forgot to write why I actually started this thread

For you guys that just started to make bows and see all this excellent ones posted by the score of top bowyers here, ...don't put to much pressure on yourself, a bow with a bit of follow is allright.

Stan, long time no see, howzit ?

rigth on Todd and Stan, QUIET, to me that's paramount (for hunting bows) I'll trade quietness for speed anyday, I can't begin to tell you the difference in the recovery process when a critter had not being spooked by any sound and just never really took of, to lay down and die most of the time in plain sigth.

Yep Ryan, hard to beat the look of a reflexed bow, ...but looks isn't everything

[bonater]

My favorite bow is a 60#@26" osage self bow I carved out a year and a half ago.  It was my first osage bow I have ever made.  It started out life looking as if it could be mounted on an airplane and I induce very little reflex. It ended up with about a 1 1/2 to 2 inches of SF.  I at first thought it was a beginners failure because of that.  But it still chucks a heavy hardwood arrow with impressive speed, and I can shoot it more consistently accurate than I can with my 50# boo backed ipe with a nice Perry reflex.  But I have still been looking to build a better bow.  After reading this thread, perhaps my failure isn't the at bad.

[Pat B]

Bonater, How long is your bow?  you might be able to kick the tips up and improve the cast a bit.
   I don't mind a bit of string follow. Good thing because most of my self bows have string follow.  Not as bad as they used to be but not flat either.     Pat

[bonater]

65" ntn.  I would have enough length to do that given that the last 6 inches or so of the limbs do not do any work but as my first effort with Osage, I am proud enough of it as it is.  I have shot thousands of arrows through it and the SF has remained unchanged. It has good early weight and draws smooth.  A couple of splinters on the back popped up early on but I glued them down with super glue and they have stayed put since. 

[Kegan]

My favotire bow was made from 12% MC hickory. It's 80# at 27" with a steady increase in bow weight. It shoots arrows from 600-950 grain arrows well. I've been able to shoot accurately out to 45 yards.

And it's got about 3" of string follow .

[StanM]

Hey Manny,

Been good.  Busy, but good.  Got outta shootin' trad bows for quite awhile after messing up my shoulder   Now I'm going to have to build a few lighter bows to build back up.  Not an altogether bad thing

Dig your new handle

Stan