Advice to figure out best BRACE HEIGHT will probably be to keep screwing with it until temporary perfection...this is trad archery, right?

However...my recurves and longbows with light arrows and no-stretch are all thump-quiet (with cat whiskers)...is there a better way to get ideal BH?

Recurve limbs have a string groove on the belly side. I start by adjusting the brace height to allow about 3/4 inch reveal from the string groove end point to the tangent point of the limb to string and start tuning from there.

For longbow is was tricky. Common knowledge says from 6” to 7” but I have a 70” ASL the maker was recommending 7 5/8” - explained the slapping down close to my wrist.

Stickbows will shoot at just about any brace that is shorter than your arrow, simple as that.

PS the BEST BH is found by sound, through trial.

Start at the low end of the recommended brace height shoot 3 or 4 arrows then twist your string up a 2-3 turns and repeat until you find where your bow likes to be braced at .

If you have a chronograph, shoot until you get the best speed, then silence it.

Listen to your bow. Noise and energy is wasted energy that did not go into the arrow. Thump quiet is the goal. - lbg

I have enough bows I just shoot them until I find a quiet one and then go hunting. I lost my good square for measuring bh some time ago so little idea what mine are.

I shoot trad bows to keep things simple and that means fine tuning is not for me.

Remove the silencers. Untwist the string enough turns so the brace height is very low. The bow will be noisy, the arrow will clack coming off the riser and your arrows will be going all over the place. Your brace is too low and that is the perfect starting point. Nock point should be 3/8" above centre.

Use a bow square. Always.

Then do what Buhbuh73 said...unstring, remove bottom loop, twist string three turns, restring and shoot. Measure the increase in the brace with the bow square each time.

As you keep twisting and testing the bow will become quieter and the arrow flight will improve. Your bow is talking to you. As things improve start writing down the brace height and comments on the bow's performance, like " quieter, but arrow's are fishtailing a bit."

If the arrow is porpoising (wagging up and down) adjust the nock point up a bit.

You will eventually reach a point where further twisting does not change anything. The bow does not get quieter and arrow flight is good. Drop your brace back down to where you hit that sweet spot.

Now you have YOUR perfect brace for YOUR bow and you'll find shooting to be much more satisfying.

Very few archers go through this exercise. I can tell by standing at a range and watching them shoot.

Camodave "I have enough bows I just shoot them until I find a quiet one and then go hunting. I lost my good square for measuring bh some time ago so little idea what mine are. I shoot trad bows to keep things simple and that means fine tuning is not for me."

You were kidding right?? No fine tuning?

If not can I have all your untuned bows that are noisy that you're never going to use?

Thanks!

Thanks pdiddly :-)

There is an actual formula for recurves and longbows based on the bows length. I can't find where I put it but maybe someone else has it.

My theory is to throw the instructions away and do what shoots best. If your limbs are stable and bow hand steady run that brace down, your bow will draw smoother and shoot faster.

Well said Pdiddly. Yes, it’s worth every bit of this effort.

Dave isn't kidding at all. All this fine tuning to some is a total waste of time because it's simply not necessary.

If the arrow flies straight and the bow is quiet then what's the problem. By the time the arrow go's through the critter it's too late to think other than knife time.

A bare shaft is the waste of a good hunting arrow without a broadhead.

RymanCat

We're talking about setting the brace height...that's it.

That has to be done or the bow is useless.

No the trad way is to mess with it until it's broke. Just set it to the makers suggestions and be done with it

So if the suggested brace is 7.5- 8.5" where do you set it??

The range indicates there is a sweet spot somewhere in there!

Ruler or fist and thumb to start out with.

8

Simply splitting the difference will yield a mediocre result.

I am mystified by the resistance some have to unstringing a bow a few times to set the brace and get it shooting quietly, accurately and quickly.

Spend big money on a bow then simply string it and shoot it?

Not sure of the formula for a bow's lenght. Many people swear by 7-8" for a 60" bow. A 1964 Browning Safari 1 has a 9.75" suggested brace! Some people would string it, look at the brace that high and say " No way! Too high!!"

They would then set it to 7.5", put four silencers on it and velcro the string grooves to cover up some of the godawful noise and twang and spray arrows at the target.

Before we had instant answers via the internet, we usually just worked it to where it worked best for us. A spread hand was usually the start for a recurve bow then find your spot from there -/+. A longbow was normally a fistmele...back of fist against riser with thumb extended. Still works that way since you have to find your spot no matter.

Some guys reload shells with a powder scoop. Some guys actually weigh the powder for each round. Both get acceptable results for what they are shooting for (pun intended).

Several times I have noticed a little arrow wiggle every now and then from my "tuned" bow. A quick check with a bow square has confirmed my brace height was a little low. A few twists of the string and I was back in business shooting bullets. I mean arrows.

I actually enjoy the tinkering and trying to make a good thing better. And then even better. That's how I learn.

No one knows better than the guy that build the bow. I would ask him where the bow shoots the best.,

I put new super limbs on my DAS handle and it is much noisier than than the old DAS limbs. I followed the recommended brace height and Lo and behold that is where it is quietest. Still much too noisy for me. So the problem has to be one of two things I changed. The new limbs themselves or the new ILF plates. My switching back to the old plates I was hoping to at least eliminate that variable. I'd hate to have to go back to the old limbs

"No one knows better than the guy that built the bow"

Except maybe the guy that SHOOTS the bow...

Since my old buddy with the cable tensiometer passed away, and since I can't afford a tensiometer of my own:

I shoot my bows with the arrows/arrow weight & spine I want to use, and do so with no silencers in the string.

When the bow is at the brace height giving it the best quietness, that is where I leave it, then move to other areas such as string silencers, etc to achieve even greater quietness.

Consequently - that quietest brace height has always been where the bow shoots fastest, and is the most behaved on the shot / performs best, and in my opinion is the same for all bows.

Now, since I know some will want to know about the tensiometer here goes:

A cable tensiometer will show you what brace height gives you the highest in line stress on the string. The point of highest in line stress of the string is where the bow will shoot the quietest, and perform the best.

Rick

Peter you may recall from reading my posts over the years that I am occasionally prone to embellishing the truth, mixed with outright lies.

I tune my bows well and then forget about them. When strings are made by our buddy that works fine.

The other bows that I have not tuned were tuned by someone else. For example Brandon set up my ACE before sending it to me. I have never had any reason to change anything about that bow.

The noisy bows I have are all dedicated target bows. I have had 3D targets jump the string (honest) but it only cost me an odd point here and there.

Start at 1/8th the AMO length and work up or down for bare shafting flight, cast and noise.

The guy that shoots the bow will know more about what brace is needed for them...by far than the guy who built it. Bowyers can only suggest a brace, just like manufacturers did. You have to find it ... where it works best for you.

Ok then.

Brace height is a static alignment of a dynamic process involving the workability of the limbs. Brace height has little to do with where the string lays against the limbs and a lot to do with the energy loading and unloading of the limb. Brace height affects your bow geometry and how far you bend the limbs and how far you allow the limbs to push the load. Brace height should fit the bow to you.

This, of course, is just my meandering thoughts. I usually just make a string and then wind it till I get a nice candy stripe affect and call it braced.

JR, I've had identical bows already, 66 Kodiak for a matter of fact, an each one shot best with a slightly different brace height..about 3/8" lower on one than the other. The maker can suggest, but he doesn't (can't) know about individual dynamics, not to mention the subtle differences in the bows themselves.

What George Said. Every bow is different, and each has its own needs in brace height.

“There is an actual formula for recurves and longbows based on the bows length. I can't find where I put it but maybe someone else has it.”

For the recurve the formula is like this:

AMO length / 8 = min brace height

AMO length / 7.33 = max brace height

I have seen that formula...problem is it just doesn't work on all sorts of bows.

For instance, the recommended brace height on the 60" NTN 1964 Browning Safari II is 9.25". The maximum BH using that formula is 8.2".

The 54" Safari I has a recommended brace of 9.5". The formula puts that at 7.36"!!

Same for the Wing Thunderbird at 62". The maximum BH with the formula is 8.45". A T-Bird has to be 9.5" to avoid vibration and terrible arrow flight.

What Peter said. Formulas look good on paper, but sometimes fail in real application. The best course has always been to simply 'find' the proper brace height. It is not rocket science, and if you have been an archer any time at all, you will intuitively know if it's much too low or much too high. Find it.

Everyone knows that I'm five beers short of a 6 pack (I drank 'em and am working on the 6th), so take this for what it's worth.

I do exactly what Pdiddly does until he adjust the nocking point. I don't really care what the arrow is doing, because I have a good idea that it's stiff.

Once I have the BH as Pdiddly suggested, I put on the silencer and then tune with www.fenderarchery.com/-blogs/archery-info/basic-tuning

After that I'll shoot bare shafts for as much as two weeks (actually most of my shooting is bare shafts) and find a little nock kick from time to time. That's ME and the arrow.

Look at the graph at fender archery with slightly stiff on one side and weak on the other, with PERFECT at the top middle. I'm right handed. If that nock kick is right I'll put in a couple of twists. If left I'll take them out.

After time, (two weeks) the arrow kick is gone. I know the ME is still there, but the tune of the arrow makes up for ME. One caveat, since I continue to shoot bare shafts, I'll notice that when I put on two wool shirts I have nock kick again. The distance between your bicept and forearm has about and inch of shirt between them - I have nock kick - for awhile. My brace height is never exactly the same as when I first set it. But then again I'm on my 6th beer. LOL.

Bowmania

Gentlemen, I don't believe the formula is for "hunting size" recurves (60" AMO and below), as I don't believe it is for longbows either. JusPassin mentioned it and I just happened to know it from a book (The Art of Stringwalking)

The only formula I have ever seen that comes close to working on any bow is this. Taught to me by an old bowter. Divide the bow length by 11.5, then add the amount of reflex in the riser. Measure reflex by laying the bow belly side down on a table and measure from the table to the pivot point of the grip.

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here